


Persona 5: if...

by Phurtershep



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series, Shin Megami Tensei Series, Shin Megami Tensei: if...
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Canon Divergence, Demonic Possession, Demons, Demons will probably kill people, Fear, Multi, No Metaverse, On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Revenge, Violence, Weapons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:34:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23326327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phurtershep/pseuds/Phurtershep
Summary: Following a demonic ritual, Shujin Academy is dragged into the Expanse. The Demon Summoning Program found mass uploaded to the school's computer network gives the students a chance to fight back, or to use it on each other.(General Concept is taken from SMT: if..., no spoilers for the game are within.)(On hiatus since I lost motivation for the project, sorry)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 38





	1. Uneasy Beginning

“Shibuya Station, this is Shibuya Station.” the subway intercom blared, snapping Akira awake again. He whipped out his phone, he was still making good time. He slipped it back into his pocket and looked out the window, stepping off of the train as the doors opened. 

It was an oddly nice day, not what he had expected from the city, even if it was as crowded as he imagined. He followed the crowd around Station Square until he saw the sign to lead him to Yongen-Jaya. The train itself was thankfully less crowded, but still too clustered to be comfortable.

Getting lost in Yongen-Jaya wasn’t enjoyable, and the hard gaze from a few people who could tell he wasn’t from the area didn’t help. How was he supposed to know he was looking for a cafe and not a house?

Meeting his new caretaker, Sojiro, went about as smoothly as he had expected, but at least he wasn’t on the street already.  _ “Maybe the glasses made a better impression?”  _ he hoped, sweeping the various layers of dust and grime from the wooden attic floor. 

“Hmm. You’re actually cleaning.” Sojiro said, walking up the stairs with sheets in his hands. He set them on the (thankfully already dusted) railing, and looked around with a neutral expression. “Maybe you’ve got a better head on your shoulders than I thought.”

“Uh… yeah.” Akira said, unsure of what to say. He silently returned to sweeping while Sojiro continued. 

“Well, these sheets are for you. I don’t frankly care what you do as long as it isn’t illegal and you’re back before I close up. Keep yourself out of trouble because i’ll kick you out at the first sign, got it?” The sound of the bell on the door opening made Sojiro stop and start to walk back down the stairs. 

“Sojirooooooo!” a young voice yelled from below, “You said you’d feed meeeeeee!”

“I was closing up, sorry for making you wait.”

“Oh! Is the kid who punched that politician in the face here already?”

“He didn’t  _ punch _ him Futaba, but the kid is here.”

“Can I meeeeet him?”

“Only a first year and you’re already trying to get with delinquents, huh?” Sojiro said in a teasing voice. 

“Come on, you promised no jokes like that!” she pouted, with a loud overdramatic huff.

“I know I know. I’ll be back there in a few minutes with your curry, okay?” 

“You better! My hunger meters empty!” she said, the opening and closing of the door signalling her exit. 

“Is that… your daughter?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Sojiro said, his serious expression and tone returning, “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep away from her.”

“I understand.” Akira droned, returning to sweeping. 

“Mmm., good. I’m locking up, so don’t go anywhere.” Sojiro finished, walking down the stairs. After a few minutes, and the clacking of dishes, he too left. Akira sighed, and made his bed. It was a quiet night from there on, crushingly so. Akira flopped into bed, and after making himself comfortable he flipped through his phone for something to do.

_ “Nobody to talk to…”  _ Akira thought with a sigh. He tossed his phone to the side and eventually settled into a dreamless sleep, quiet as the night around him.

“Hey, if you’re going to be a pain in the ass, can you at least have the decency to wake yourself up somewhat early?” Sojiro yelled, waking Akira up. He tumbled out of bed onto the wooden floor with a grunt and a muffled chuckle from his guardian. 

“Get up and make yourself presentable for pete’s sake. Your meeting with the school is today, in case you forgot.”

“I remembered…” he replied, standing up and stretching from the floor.

“Well good, I’ll be waiting downstairs. I had to close up for today so you better not screw this up, got it?” Sojiro demanded. With a silent nod from Akira, Sojiro returned below while Akira changed into his uniform. 

The meeting was about how he’d expected as well. The teacher, Kawakami, knew of his record, and the principal was trying to lay on the  _ great service _ he was doing, and seemed to have to remind Akira every thirty seconds that he was both expelled from his last school and that he might very well end up expelled from this one. “By the way,” Kawakami said, causing Akira to snap to attention again, “The other students don’t know of your record, so  _ please _ don’t start anything or tell them, okay? It’ll only make things ugly if they find out.”

“I don’t plan to.” Akira said, trying to put on a smile. Kawakami only rolled her eyes and groaned. 

“Well, I think we have this all figured out.” The Principal said, “Meet Ms. Kawakami early in the morning tomorrow to get lead to your class.” 

“We’ll get out of here then,” Sojiro said, standing up from the chair he was seated in, “Get up kid.”

Traffic was awful on the return, unusually enough, leaving time for small talk that was mostly unused until they were near Sojiro’s house. 

“So, about you getting to school.” Sojiro said, “You’re taking the trains there. I’m not driving you again, you hear?”

“Mhm.” Akira mumbled, starting out the window.

“Don’t go trying to be a hero again either, it’s already landed you in enough trouble.”

“Yeah…” 

The pair were in silence the rest of the way back, and as they returned to Leblanc. Sojiro locked the door after letting Akira in, leaving him free to roam the store. There wasn’t much to do aside from finish more of his room, so he trudged up the stairs to kill time until he passed out again.

He hadn’t expected a probation to be so damn lonely. Minutes turned to hours in isolation before he threw in the towel and flopped into bed. A sudden ping on his phone alerted him, and he read out:

Unknown Number: Hey, you’re that delinquent right?

Akira: Who is this?

Unknown Number: Secret. But I know who you are…

Akira: Yeah, I guessed. 

“Of course they’d start handing out my number…” Akira sighed.

Unknown Number: You really need better friends, huh?

Akira: Maybe.

Unknown Number: Come on, there’s no need to be mean! I’m certainly a lot nicer to you than that grump’s probably been :(

Akira: Are you his daughter?

Akira sat up, a mixture of confused and concerned.

Unknown Number: Kinda, hi.

Akira: How the hell did you get my number?

Unknown Number: Found it.

Akira: That is far from consoling.

Unknown Number: All i’m gonna say is that it's really easy to put some things together.

Unknown Number: Besides, I may have eavesdropped and heard your name :)

Akira: Well, what do you want?

Unknown Number: Nothing. Just wanted to check to make sure I got the right number, really.

Akira: Right… 

Akira: Goodnight then…?

Unknown Number: Yeah gn Kurusu-senpai, you better stay out of trouble~

A groan escaped his lips as he closed his phone and set it aside. Having his personal info (including his phone number apparently) being leaked was exactly the reassurance he needed to sleep soundly. At least, if nothing else, tomorrow might be better.

Akira was woken early by the blaring of a phone alarm. He didn’t get enough sleep, he could feel it. He lifted himself up and silenced his phone with a yawn.

After a breakfast of curry, oddly enough, Akira was out the door towards the station. On the station platform he saw a girl wearing the Shujin uniform, with a flash of bright orange hair down to her waist. The train slowly came into view, before stopping at the platform. Slowly, the assorted students and regular city-goers filed on, with Akira trying to follow the flash of orange hair through the bustle. The train ride to Aoyama-Itchome passed much the same, and Akira just followed the trail of students rather than his orange-haired guide. 

“Did you hear? Apparently our new transfer student is a delinquent!” a girl said from behind Akira. He whipped his head over his shoulder to see two girls chatting among each other. He slowed down and stepped to the side.

“Didn’t someone say he really messed up some bigwig in the government?”

“Something like that… What is Kobayakawa thinking letting scum like that into Shujin?”

“I don’t know, my mom is going to-” the second continued as Akira stepped off to the side. 

He wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to feel. Shocked? Disgusted? His thoughts were interrupted by a raindrop plinking onto his nose. The groups moving towards Shujin began to speed up and pull out their umbrellas. Akira started to run, shielding his face as the rain quickly picked up. He ducked under an awning as people ran by, staring out to the clouds above. 

“Oh, are you that new transfer student?” a girl’s voice said to his side. Akira turned to see a blonde girl under the awning, trying to get the water out of her clothes and hair.. “You forgot an umbrella too, huh?”

“Yeah, lovely first day.” he replied, wiping the water off of his glasses. As they spoke, a car rolled up on the street nearby. 

“Need a ride Takamaki?” the older man said, patting the free seat to his side. 

“Oh, er…” she stammered.

“Come on, better than being in the rain, right?”

“Y-yeah…” she said, walking over and getting in. As the window rolled up, her frown only intensified. As the car pulled away, Akira heard footsteps stomping in the rain.

“Get back here you pervy asshole!” a boy yelled, slowing to a stop near where Akira stood. His spiky hair was bleached yellow, and he wore his jacket open with a bright t-shirt underneath. “What are you starin’ at?” He said, looking over at Akira. “You gonna report me to Kamoshida?”

“No? Is that who was in the car?”

“Huh? You  _ do _ go to Shujin, right? How would you  _ not _ know him?”

“I’m a transfer student.”

“Oh, uh... nevermind then.” He said, the edge on his voice fleeting. “What’s your name?”

“Akira Kurusu, you?” 

“Ryuji Sakamoto. That ugly bastard drivin the car is a PE teacher, and one of the coaches.” 

“Not a fan, huh?” 

“Nah.” Ryuji said, scratching at his hair. “Wanna walk to school?”

“Fine by me, I guess.” Akira said, “What’s with the delinquent getup?”

“I like it. Simple as that.” Ryuji said, “Follow me, I know a quicker way than they’re all takin’.” They turned into an alleyway, and began the walk to school.

* * *

“This… this is it, right?” Mishima said to himself within a gym storage closet. A summoning circle was chalked in place, with several intricate markings around the edges. “The power to get rid of Kamoshida… This is for everyone’s good, right?”

The lines of the circle began to glow purple, as Mishima slowly slid against the wall.

“The pact is sealed, human.” A deep voice boomed. “Let your will be done.”

Mishima could only watch as his vision began to fade, and he slumped over onto his side.

* * *

“See? Told you it was faster.” Ryuji said, walking over to the front steps. “You said you needed to get to the Faculty office, right?”

“Yeah, can you show me there?” 

“Heh, fine by me!”

Ryuji walked away as Akira entered. He stepped over to Kawakami’s desk,where she looked up with surprise at him. “You’re earlier than I expected.”

“Is… that a good thing?”

“I guess?” She said with a light shrug, “Let’s get to class early then, you have some adjusting to do.”

Kawakami led Akira to the slowly filling classroom, and they stood up at the front as the whole class filed in.

“Everyone, we have a new transfer student here today. He had special circumstances with his last school, and will be with us here for the remainder of the year.” Kawakami said, motioning to Akira.

“I’m Akira Kurusu, pleased to meet you all.” Akira said, putting on a small smile. This was returned with a few mutters and a hellos.

“Well, you can sit there,” Kawakami said, pointing to a set of two empty seats in the back corner of the class. “The back one, mind you, the one closer to the front is normally taken.” Akira nodded and walked over, setting down his bag under his desk.

“Is that the transfer kid? He doesn’t look violent, like, at all.” one of the students whispered to Akira’s side.

“Yeah, can’t be sure about a kid like him though… it’s the quiet ones who are dangerous!” their friend replied. Akira looked down at his desk and stayed silent.

“Yeah, I guess…”

“That’s enough of spreading rumors about someone who just got here.” Kawakami said, an angry edge in her voice. “Geez… You all may have to share textbooks for the first few days, until Kurusu can get his books all together.”

It was going to be a long day

* * *

“Has anyone located Takamaki or Yuuki since they entered the building?” 

“No sir, we’ve been asking around to no avail. Has it been 100% confirmed they came at all today?”

“Well I-” Kobayakawa began, interrupted by the sound of the door to his office opening. His eyes bulged, his breath quickly being sucked into his throat.

“Am I... interrupting something?” a brown haired young man said, stepping into the office.

“You…” Kobayakawa stuttered, before gulping. “No, not at all.”

“Good. I’d hate to be a bother, after all...” the young man said, setting the briefcase he was carrying on the desk. “We have important things to discuss.”

* * *

Mishima groaned in pain. His head was pounding. He couldn’t quite feel his limbs, and especially couldn’t move them. His throat felt oddly dry as well, and he gave a hoarse cough from a mixture of the chalky dust and his own burning throat. 

“You made a pact with our world, correct?” A deep voice doomed in the room, “Then let your will be done, our new Demon Emperor.” 

With a loud crash, Mishima fell unconscious again.

* * *

“Yo, you goin’ home then?” Ryuji said as Akira exited his own class. A flood of students was passing them, getting ready to leave for the day.

“Yeah, I was planning on it.”

“Sweet, then lets- SHIT!” Ryuji yelled, as the entire school began to shake. The large gathering of students screamed as the building shook, and the sky outside quickly began to darken to pitch black. After a few seconds the shaking stopped.

“What the eff?” Ryuji said, looking out the nearby windows, “Why’s it so dark all of a sudden?”

“Everyone, please get back to your classrooms!” A few teachers tried to yell to the crowd, with middling success.

“Tch, figures.” Ryuji muttered. “Somethin’ shitty happens and they just want us to stay put.”

“What do you think we should do?”

“Well, we can look around. I’m not stickin in this place if I don’t have to.” he answered, stepping towards the stairs. A girl in a pink sweater with fluffy brown hair ran up past them, going up the stairs.

“Where do you think she’s going?” Akira asked as they continued down. Ryuji shrugged.

“Maybe she’s looking for a sibling, it’s hard to say.” 

A small crowd had gathered at the front gate, ablaze in conversation about something. 

“What the hell is that?” someone in the crowd said, pointing at the door. Akira and Ryuji turned the corner to see that outside the school gate had become some sort of swirling mass, and around it…   


The city of Tokyo, along with the entire rest of the world, was missing.


	2. The Expanse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and Ryuji enter the athletic building looking for another exit, only to be trapped within with Kasumi Yoshizawa, who's being pursued by a demon summoned within the school.

“Oh shit…” Ryuji said, looking out the door over the heads of the other students.

“What the hell is going on?” Akira muttered, shock and realization setting in.

"I don't know... but we need to get out here. There’s emergency exits in the practice building, we might be able to get out there.” Ryuji said, “I uh… may have used them once.”

“Right…” Akira said, moving towards the door. Ryuji jogged to follow him, as they opened the door into the courtyard connecting the two buildings. The sky above was just as dark as the surroundings of the gates, despite some form of natural light illuminating the outside area. 

“Shit dude…” Ryuji said, looking out to the false sky. “This is effed up, what kinda thing could happen to make the whole damn city disappear like that?”

“What if the city isn’t what disappeared?”

“Still doesn’t make any damn sense!” Ryuji yelled, banging a fist against the metal railing. “A school doesn’t just disappear like that!” 

“Yeah… we should get moving again I guess.” Akira said, walking through the glass doors and into the practice building. 

The lights were turned off within, with only Akira and Ryuji making noise.

“Jeez, it’s way too quiet in here.” Ryuji said, treading towards the nearby security exit. “You think everyone fled to the main building?.”

“I guess… I didn’t see anybody coming though.”

“Yeah…” Ryuji said, putting a hand on the door. “Cover your ears man, this is gonna be loud.” Ryuji pushed against the door, only to be stopped as though hitting a solid wall. “What the hell? Open damnit!” Ryuji gave the door a strong kick, only to stumble backwards. “Must be jammed, how the hell did that happen?”

“Everything’s fine in the main building though… Hold this door, actually, I’ll check around.” Ryuji replied, walking around the corner. Within two minutes, he returned and gave only a shrug. “That same shit at the main gate is back there too. It’s probably at every exit to the school... “

“Where do we go then?”

“I guess see if anyone else on this side has seen anything… if anyone’s here they probably went to the gym…” Ryuji said, scratching at his chin. “Here, lemme show you there. You probably don’t know where it is do you?” 

The duo moved through the silent building and out the door to the gym, stepping back into the courtyard. Outside once again, they could hear the commotion from students in the main building, but even they slowly quieted after teachers yelling and ordering them back into the classrooms.. Ryuji slowly slid the door open and peeked inside. “Dude… what the ‘eff?” he whispered, opening the door for Akira to see. Inside the gym, spread across almost the entire floor, was a white demonic summoning circle. “That’s a shitty prank to pull in a time like this…” 

“Who would have even had time to make this?” Akira said, stepping into the open room. 

“Tch, probably some assholes who got out early and decided to stick around.” Ryuji huffed. Both of the boys tensed at the loud sound of a girl screaming from the practice building. 

“Someone’s in trouble!” Akira said, turning and running out the door Ryuji held open. 

They had to struggle to open the 

“Hey, who’s there?” Akira said, followed quickly by Ryuji. 

“Get out, there’s a monster!” a girl's voice said. She jumped from the stairs and landed running, reaching for the glass doors the two had returned from. “What are you two even doing in here?”

“Looking for a way out, what the hell’s all this about a monster?” 

“Some-” she began to say, before a hiss emanated from the stairs she had run down from. “Crap, run!” she said, opening the door, and rushing towards the main building.

“Hey, wait!” Ryuji said, running off after her. Akira quickly followed, before all three were stopped by the pair of doors into the main building being as well. 

“Oh no…” the redhead said, “Is every door in this place locked now?”

“What do you mean?” Ryuji questioned, looking above him to the connectors above them, “You mean the other doors were locked too?”

“You said there was a monster, right?” Akira said, keeping his voice quiet, “Why don’t we hide?”

“No point, we tried that and…” she said, a tear flowing down her cheek, “it already got someone.” Akira and Ryuji’s eyes widened.

“The Gym supply closet, we gotta get something to fend it off, you’re that other new kid, right?” Ryuji said, motioning towards the redhead.

“Uh… yeah.” she replied, as the now trio ran back towards the gym.

It wasn’t hard to get inside the closet, for some reason it was already unlocked. Ryuji quickly began to fumble around inside as Akira pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. 

“Shit… another one of these?” Ryuji said, stepping over another summoning circle. Unlike the one in the gym, the one on the closet floor was evidently made by a young hand, with shaky lines and composition. 

“What can we even use in here?” the redhead said, wiping her face. There’s not a lot I can see…” 

“Not if you know where to look!” Ryuji said, triumphantly pulling out a few sports pads and tennis rackets. “It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I… don’t see how this helps us fend off a  _ monster.  _ ” the redhead replied, “we need something better than old tennis rackets.”

“Well, there might be some weights or something in here…” Ryuji said, pushing old sports equipment out of the way. “Jeez, they have a bunch of shit in here for sports that we don’t even have teams for. Who the hell got all this?”

“Beats me,” Akira said, “We might be able to use some of this to block the door though…”

“Nah, if we get ourselves trapped in here we’re effed regardless…” Ryuji sighed, “Why the hell are there  _ basketballs  _ in here? When have we ever played that?”

“Look, if we aren’t finding anything we need to move! That thing is probably only moving slowly because it’s full, if we don’t get out of here we’re going to have a bigger problem.” The redhead said, raising her voice.

“Full? Like it effin’  _ ATE SOMEONE  _ ?” Ryuji yelled, “Oh shit…”

“Keep your voices down.” Akira said, motioning back towards the door. He slowly pushed it open, looking around the gym. “Those rackets are better than nothing, we had better take them.”

“You sayin’ we should move then?” Ryuji said, dumping some things back in place.

“It’s better than staying here, these circles creep me the hell out.” 

“Yeah… oh, come to think of it, we never got your name did we?” Ryuji said, looking over to the girl as she took one of the rackets. 

“Kasumi Yoshizawa, I’m a first year.”

“Huh, alright then.” Ryuji said, stepping out of the room. 

“We need to-” Akira began, silencing himself as the door they had come into was forced open. A short purple humanoid being stepped into the gym with them, it’s breathing loud enough to reach the trio’s ears. 

“You… humans…” it grumbled, twitching as it slowly stepped towards them.

“That’s it… the one who killed Reimu…” Kasumi whispered, tightening her grip on the racket.

“Looks like we’re out of options.” Ryuji said, the racket visibly shaking in his hand.

Almost at his word, the monster lunged towards Ryuji. He slammed the metal edge of the racket into its skull, slamming it into the ground. It’s clawed arm lashed out at Ryuji’s leg, cutting into the skin of his left shin. Kasumi and Akira slammed their rackets into its back, trying to keep it on the ground. The rackets bent out of shape making hard contact with the monster’s spine, prompting Ryuji to stomp onto its head. Despite a grunt of pain, it quickly flew up back onto its feet and punched Ryuji in the gut. 

“Shit, what is this thing?!” Ryuji said, batting at the humanoid to keep it back from him. 

“We might have to just run!” Akira yelled, hitting the monster in the back of the leg to make it falter. It whipped around and slashed at Akira’s stomach, raking its claws into his flesh as it fell to the ground again.

“Piece of shit!” Ryuji yelled, stomping on the monster's leg. They heard the loud crack as it’s lower leg shattered, followed by its own screech of pain. 

“Let’s get out of here!” Kasumi yelled, turning and running out of the room. Akira and Ryuji limped after, Akira grasping at the wounds in his lower torso. Kasumi ran over and pulled at the doors to the main building, realizing they were still locked.

“Should we wait until someone opens ‘em?” Ryuji said, looking back over his shoulder at the gym door. 

“Not like we have a choice unless you wanna break the glass.” Akira said, grunting in pain as he held his stomach.

“Shit dude, are you sure you’re okay? That looks pretty damn bad…” 

“Not like we can really do anything about it,” Akira said, leaning against the doorframe. “Though… I feel really tired for some reason…” 

“Uh, isn’t that bad?!” Ryuji yelled. He pulled off his school jacket, and handed it to Akira. “Use this to try and stop the bleeding, seriously.”

“No, I’m fine... I’ll use my own.”

“If you’re losing blood you’re gonna need the heat, man. Just take it.” 

“Alright, don’t complain if the stain doesn’t come out though…” Akira grumbled, pressing the jacket onto his fresh wound. 

“Shit… I don’t know how I didn’t notice you were bleeding that bad, you took that scratch like it was nothin’ dude.”

“Uh… yeah. Guess I was a little caught up with trying to kill that… thing.”

“Do you guys have any idea what it was?” Kasumi asked.

“Not a damn clue.” Ryuji sighed, scratching at the back of his head. “Some sorta zombie?”

“It didn’t look human though…” Akira said, “and those claws weren’t normal nails.”

The trio jumped at the sound of a loud crack coming from within the gym, followed quickly by the sound of the creature from before hissing in pain.

“What the shit?” Ryuji muttered, frozen in place. 

Akira slowly walked forward, going towards the entrance to the Gym once more. Ryuji toed after him, himself followed by Kasumi. As he put his hand on the handle, he felt an unnatural sense of dread.

“Are… you sure this is a good idea?” Kasumi asked.

Akira remained silent as he opened the door, stepping back into the large open room. Standing within the center of the summoning circle was a large, goat headed giant. 

“Shit! Run!” Ryuji yelled, turning to flee. Akira attempted to follow him and Kasumi, only to be blasted off of his feet by a bolt of lightning. He could smell the scent of smoldering fabric and burnt flesh as he tried to stand up again, only to feel a crushing weight on his leg. He screamed as his foreleg shattered under the weight of the giant. 

“Get out of here!” Akira yelled, as the demon effortlessly kicked him into the opposite wall, shattering his ribs in the process.

The demon was speaking, trying to taunt Akira as he lay bleeding on the ground, but he couldn’t hear or understand it as his own blood pooled around him. He could only stare weakly as the being walked over, and finished him off by crushing his skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I had to edit this chapter to fix some inconsistencies with the actual layout of Shujin and what I wrote. Thankfully it wasn't too much of a problem to fix, but I still felt it worth noting.


	3. Awaken Your Inner Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira awakens to his Guardian Demon, and absorbs its power to bring himself back to life. With newfound strength, and the ability to converse with demons, Akira finds his new friends stunned, and realizes the power conversation can have over demons.

Akira groaned as he sat up, wincing at the sharp rocks underneath his skin. 

“I’m… I’m alive…” he muttered to himself taking a look around himself. He seemed to be on the shores of a large black body of water, flowing towards some far off end point. He stepped closer to the bank, jet black rocks crunching under his shoes. “My uniform is in one piece too... “

“That’s only fair, is it not?” An unearthly voice spoke to Akira’s left. A dangerously thin man stood at the prow of a small yet ornate barge.

“What… what are you?” Akira asked, standing to face the being before him. Despite it’s appearance, Akira could tell it wasn’t human. 

“Hmm… you seem to be the new bearer of great potential…” It said, starting into Akira’s eyes as if peering into his very soul. “Yes, I believe so.”

“You never answered me.” 

“I am Charon… ordinarily I would take you down the River Styx, but… with a spirit like yours I have something else in mind.” Charon said with a chuckle. “Stare into the waters of the Styx… You shall find it worth your while.”

Akira silently stepped closer to the edge of the water, looking down at his dark reflection.

“Closer…” Charon whispered, as Akira slowly crouched down. His face became clearer and clearer until he was almost sticking his nose into the black water. Slowly, his reflection faded and twisted, morphing and stretching into the form of a human. The humanoid’s features slowly lengthened, taking on the form of a demonic figure in a black trench coat with dull gold designs along it. In both hands it held a weapon, a sword and a dagger in its left and right hands respectively. From the depths of the black water it approached Akira, meeting his eyes where his reflection once was. 

“I am the demon born from your spirit, Picaro. Allow me to grant you the power to face the demons that threaten those around you.” a gravelly voice spoke within Akira’s head. “Though all but the rare ally would stand against you, you fight for them all the same.” With this, the demon slowly rose from the water of the river, taking a physical form before Akira’s eyes. He stood to meet the demon as it sheathed it’s blade, and reached out its hand. 

**“Let us make an agreement, a contract if you will. I am thou, thou art I… take into yourself the power of demons, and rise to protect those who cannot protect themselves.”**

Akira reached out his hand towards the demon, grasping its cold hand in his own. At once, the demon vanished, and Akira felt a surge of power spread throughout his body.

“Let it be so.” Charon said with an unearthly grin, “Let it be so, until we meet again mortal. Your time has not yet come, though this cannot be said for all around you...”

Akira awoke with a start, jumping to his feet. The goat headed giant turned to face him once more, roaring in rage seeing that he was alive again. 

“Die!” it roared, another bolt of lightning sparking at Akira’s feet. Swiftly he lunged forwards, evading the bolt and running closer to the demon. It lowered its head to charge, rushing at the revived student, only to stumble and fall as Akira darted out of the way once more.

“See ya!” Akira said with a smirk, bolting out the door and grabbing Ryuji’s jacket, which was laying on the ground where Akira was initially struck. He closed the door behind him, and at once it sealed with a purple energy. He heard the demon’s mighty roar within, followed by a crash of splintering wood, though the door remained unharmed.

Akira looked around, stepping over to the doors into the main building. They still refused to open, as if sealed by some unseen force. This left only a return into the practice building, making him reluctantly turn around and reenter the dark building. 

Akira took a deep breath as he stepped inside, catching an oddly metallic scent in the air. He peered through the empty classrooms, walking along the first floor until he ended at the nurse’s office.

“Maybe there’ll be a weapon inside…” Akira muttered to himself, slowly sliding the door open. It appeared empty, so Akira stepped inside. Walking over to the various drawers and cupboards, he rummaged until he found a small pocket knife, barely longer than his fingers. It appeared to have been confiscated, as an untrained hand had carved the initials “E.M.” into it. 

“You… You hurt Preta!” A demon howled from the ceiling. Akira jumped sideways as a long skeletal hand slashed at the desk he was standing next to moments before. It’s skin was tinged blue, and it hung from the ceiling by equally skeletal legs. It skittered across the ceiling, quickly closing the distance between it and Akira, and made a swipe with its claw. Akira ducked underneath the demon, and cut into the back of its arm. One of the demon’s legs swiftly flew down and kicked Akira in the back, knocking him onto the ground. He whipped onto his back, stabbing the demon in the hand as it made a grab for his neck. With a swift tug, he pulled the demon onto the ground. As it floundered on the ground to get back onto its feet, Akira thrust the knife into its skull, ripping it out as the demon made another swipe.

“That didn’t kill you, huh?” Akira muttered, stepping back from the demon as it shakily stood on its knees.

“Human… we make deal?” it spoke, bringing its hands together in a pleading motion.

“What do you want?”

“Me want live… me give you this sword if you let Yaka live…” it croaked, pulling a short kobachi from inside of its chest.

“Hmm. I want you to agree to leave this place and not harm anyone else as well, can you agree to that?”

“Merciful mortal! Yes indeed, Yaka can leave this place… we have deal now.” Yaka said, presenting the short sword to Akira. He took the blade, and attached it’s sheath to his pants. “Oh! Before Yaka leave, me must say… it is not common for man to talk with demons… Have you some sort of tricks?”

“No, don’t believe so.” Akira said, “Hold up your end of the bargain, and we never have to see eachother again.”

“Too kind… too kind…” it said, vanishing in a flash of purple and black energy.

“Eat shit asshole!” Ryuji yelled, slamming the door open and taking a swing at Akira with a metal pipe. Before the pipe could make contact with Akira’s skull, Ryuji whipped it to the side, slamming it into the ground with a loud thud. 

“That’s a rude way to say hello.” Akira chuckled, leaning against one of the chairs in the room. 

“How the hell did you live?!” Ryuji whooped, resting the metal pipe over his shoulder. “Your clothes aren’t even burned...”

“I got lucky.” Akira said simply, holding out Ryuji’s sweater, “Might wanna put this back on.”

“Yeah but… there’s no blood on it now, I know for a damn fact you bled into this…”

“Doesn’t matter, where’s Yoshizawa?”

“Huh? She was looking around for a way out upstairs since there didn’t seem to be any more of those monsters around…”

“We need to get to her,” Akira said, “Evidently there’s more in here than we thought.” 

“Alright, I’ll follow you then…” Ryuji said, “No idea how the hell you managed to get a sword but I won’t ask.” 

“I got it from a demon.” Akira said simply, leaving the office and going up the stairs. 

“Yeah… not gonna ask, you’re bein’ really damn vague about all that dude.” 

“I’ll explain it when we’re sure Yoshizawa is safe.” Akira finished, walking to the top of the stairs. 

At the far end of the hallway, a small winged humanoid demon was looking into the different classrooms, fluttering down towards the doors to the main building. Akira silently motioned for Ryuji to stop. The demon turned to see them, and fluttered away from the door. It tilted its head, looking at the duo with an unidentifiable expression.

“Who are you two supposed to be?” It questioned, floating closer to the duo. 

“We’re trying to find our friend.” Akira said, keeping a hand rested on the handle of the kodachi at his hip.

“The red haired girl?” the demon said, thinking for a moment. “I think she ran into that classroom at the end of the hall.”

“Oh, thank you.” Akira said, “You… aren’t going to attack us or anything?”

“How rude! I’m nothing like those Haunts!” it huffed, “And I was being nice too!”

“I’m sorry, I’ve just had a few… rude encounters.” Akira replied, raising his hands in a friendly gesture.

“I suppose that’s fair…” it mumbled, “Well, I’m Pixie, a fairy! You need to be nice to a kind girl like me!”

“Dude… what the hell is it sayin’?” Ryuji muttered, taking a step back.

“Hmmm… you have magical potential, don’t you?” Pixie said, looking Akira up and down. “Yeah, i’m sure of it! I sense the power of a demon inside you, like some kind of guardian spirit.” 

“Is that how I can talk to you?” Akira questioned. Ryuji backed away further, putting a few meters between him and Akira.

“Dunno... maybe.” Pixie shrugged, “Have you ever used magic before?”

“No, I didn’t even know that was a thing until just now.”

“Didn't Fomor try and fry you when you entered his lair?” she chuckled, “Magic is a thing most demons can use to some extent, and some humans can use it too!” 

“Would I be able to open the doors back into the other building if I used magic?” 

“I think those are sealed by a demon. I couldn’t get them open either…”

“Hmm...Well regardless, thank you Pixie.” Akira said with a small bow.

“Aww, you’re too nice! I’ll see you around!” Pixie said with a wave, fluttering off around the corner.

“Dude… what the hell! How can you speak to those things?!” Ryuji sputtered out, “All I can hear is gibberish!”

“I’m… not sure. She told me she saw Yoshizawa in that room back there.” 

“Really?” Ryuji said, walking to the end of the hall. He rattled at the door knob to no avail. “Hey Kasumi, you in there?” 

“Ryuji! One of those monsters is out there!” Kasumi said from inside the room, “Get out of here!”

“Akira uh… dealt with it.”

“Akira… wait- he’s alive?!” Kasumi said, opening the door and looking outside. She gasped when she saw Akira, and stepped outside with the still bent tennis racket.

“Glad to see you’re alive too.” Akira said with a wave. 

“You seem… different.” Kasumi said, “Like… like you’re getting used to this already or something.”

“I mean… he literally just talked the one demon that was up here away, said something about magic…?” Ryuji said, scratching at his hair. Kasumi silently stared at Akira, as if trying to size him up.

“Well, she said that the doors are being sealed by a demon of some kind. If we can find it and defeat it, we should be able to get to at least some form of safety.

“But so far the only thing that’s happened with demons is someone dying… can we even do it? We couldn’t kill that purple one, I don't even think we really damaged it until Ryuji went for the leg...” 

“We don’t have a choice, either we kill it or we’ll just slowly get whittled down until some sort of demon gets us.” Akira said, looking out the windows. 

“Demon?” Kasumi whispered.

“That’s what they say they are, at the very least.” Akira said. “You’ve checked all the room’s up here, right?”

“Yeah, I checked the bathrooms too.” Ryuji said, “Uh, the guy’s bathrooms.” He added, seeing Kasumi’s murderous expression.

“So what other places could there be to check?” Akira said, leaning against the wall.

“Uh… PE office, you checked the nurses office so not that… and the girl’s bathrooms.”

“I guess we don’t have a choice then…” Kasumi groaned, “Well, I don’t wanna be here much longer, it’s getting colder and colder in here.” 

“Well, let’s get a move on then, I wanna check the PE office first, then we can go bother with the bathrooms if that fails.” Ryuji said, “I’ll show you there, c’mon!” 

Akira and Kasumi followed Ryuji down the stairs, preparing for what might come next.


	4. The Demon Summoning Program

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside the classroom building, Futaba Sakura finds the Demon Summoning Program uploaded to the school's computers, and installs it onto her phone. Meanwhile, Akira finds and kills the demon responsible for the seals on the doors into the classroom building.

“Huh… so this really is it.” Futaba said, opening the app on her phone. 

“Welcome to the Demon Summoning Program.” A man’s voice spoke, “In times of peril, this application is distributed to those who may need to converse and form bonds with the beings known as demons, which this application allows. Futaba gasped as a wrist mount formed out of thin air before her very eyes, resting on the table before her. 

“This will allow your device to survive without recharging, as well as leave your hands free for any emergencies. Please, put it on and insert your device before we continue.

“I should have figured weird shit would happen using a ‘Demon Summoning Program’, but…” Futaba muttered to herself, inserting her phone into the wrist mount and attaching it to her arm. It fit perfectly, and despite appearing to be made of metal felt like it was made of a soft fabric against her arm. 

“This application comes with a demon you are capable of controlling upon installation. The strength of the demon relies on the strength of your will. Please summon this demon now.” the voice continued. Tapping on the screen, Futaba read the name of the demon. 

“Food Onmoraki… It said I can control it… right?” She said, reluctantly summoning the demon. In a flash the demon took a physical form, hovering on the empty desk in front of her. 

“You are my new mistress, right?” It said, its small chicken-esque body flapping despite a lack of feathers. 

“Yes, I-I am.” Futaba said trying to keep a neutral expression despite the terror she felt. 

“You seem… nice. I like you.” Onmoraki spoke, its onion shaped head bobbing to it’s words. “It’s cold in here though!” Onmoraki spewed fire above itself, stretching its body to warm itself.

“You seem nice too.” Futaba said, slowly beginning to relax, “I wasn’t expecting this…”

“Hmmm. You should take me back in, before you scare someone, mistress.” 

“Oh, good idea…” Futaba mumbled, tapping on the screen to return the demon. With another flash, he returned to a formless state and returned to Futaba’s phone.

“This concludes the introductory period of the Demon Summoning Program. Full functionality is now unlocked. Carry humanity onwards.” the voice finished. 

“So… this might help me get out of here…” Futaba said, looking over Onmoraki within the program. She smirked. “Let’s hope this works.”

* * *

“If there’s a demon, I’d guess it’d be in here…” Ryuji said, stopping outside the door. “Considering the bastard that’s usually in here…” 

“Kamoshida, right?” Kasumi said, “You were talking about it earlier.”

“When?” Akira questioned, pausing before he opened the door.

“Uh… when we thought you were dead…” Ryuji said sheepishly, “But essentially he sits here whenever he’s not busy. He’s that fuckin creep from this morning.

“Crap… it feels like it’s been longer than that.”

“I guess being in a life threatening situation like this makes you feel like more time is passing than it really is.”

“A lot has happened…” Akira said, “Whatever, we’re wasting time.” he remarked, opening the door. Like most of the rooms in the practice building, the lights were out. A demon hovered in the center of the room, rummaging through the various desks in the center of the room.

“Eh, whadya want?” The demon snarled, revealing itself. It was similar in size to Pixie, only with bald, hairless red flesh and entirely naked. A fleshy horn protruded from its crotch. 

“Oh hell no…” Ryuji muttered, keeping a tight grip on the pipe he had procured. 

“Gross…” Kasumi followed, holding her hand to her mouth.

“Are you the one keeping the doors sealed?”

“What’s it to ya you little shit?” the demon said arrogantly. “I’m Incubus, I don’t gotta answer to little shits like you, get it?”

“You don’t want to deal with this rationally?”

“That a threat, shtiface?”

“Perhaps.”

“Eat shit then! Zan!” The demon yelled. Akira lunged forward, as a gust of energy blasted Ryuji and Kasumi backwards and Akira forwards into the room. Akira regained his footing and drew his sword, dismembering the demon’s foot. It fired another gust of magic, knocking Akira back into the wall. Instinctively, Akira raised the sword over his head. A surge of energy swept from his body into the blade, charging it with energy.

“Shit! Wait, don’t hit me with-” Incubus began, as Akira ran forward and slashed at the demon, cleaving off its horn. It screeched in agony, itself falling backwards onto the ground. 

“Take this you shitbag!” Ryuji yelled, running in and smashing the pipe he had been carrying over the demon’s head with a satisfying crack. “Whew… we did good.”

“Yeah.” Akira said, sheathing his sword. “You think that did it?” 

“I hope, man. I’m weirdly exhausted, y’know?” 

“Makes sense. We’ve been through a lot already.” Akira said as Kasumi peeked in. 

“You killed it, right?” she said, walking into the room. 

“Not yet, dipshit!” Incubus suddenly yelled, taking flight to the ceiling. “Marin Karin!” At his call, a orb of pink energy surrounded Kasumi, before vanishing with a loud pop. “I win, shitheads! You wouldn’t kill a lady!”

“Uh… was that supposed to do something?” Kasumi said, looking herself over. Incubus’s face dropped. 

“Not sure.” Akira said, looking up at the physically and emotionally wounded demon. “Hey, that was supposed to do something right?”

“Of course it was! She was supposed to be seduced by my masculine charms!”

“And… that takes the form of a pink orb?”

“Yeah, dumbass! You have demonic powers and you don’t know that shit?” 

“Huh. Well thanks.” Akira said before vaulting up and cutting the flying demon in half.

"Ass... hole..." Incubus muttered, falling to the ground in two halves. Akira landed deftly on the ground near its head.

“So it’s dead _now_ , right?” Ryuji asked, as the pieces of the demon slowly faded into nothing.

“I guess?” Akira said, “It’s the first time we’ve actually killed a demon…”

“Where’d you learn to do that, Kurusu?” 

“I didn’t, I just kinda... _did_ it, y'know?”

“You must be a natural gymnast then…” Kasumi pondered, “Or whatever lets you speak to demons also made you lighter on your feet.”

“It sure feels like it... I feel a lot stronger too.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that too, actually. You still haven’t been clear on _how_ you’re alive. That thing was massive… there’s no way you got out of there alive after it hit you.”

“Well…” Akira said, scratching the back of his head, “I guess there’s no getting out of it…”

* * *

“Come on… open!” Futaba grumbled, shaking at the doors leading to the courtyard. “Who the hell would lock them at a time like this?”

“What do you think you’re doing?” an older student’s voice said, walking around the corner.

“Oh… hi miss student council president.” Futaba said, “Do you know why we’re locked in here?”

“You shouldn’t have been able to leave your classroom anyways, this is an emergency.”

“Yeah, and I saw people out in the practice building already!” Futaba lied, pointing out the glass doors. “You’re leaving students locked out there in this ‘emergency’!”

“When? They’ve been locked for a while now…” she said, walking over to the door. “Hold on, you said this was locked?” 

“Yeah, I can’t open it,” Futaba groaned, “It barely even budges at all.”

“Well… there’s something else wrong with it then, because this door isn’t locked,” she said, pointing at the gap between the two doors. “There’s no bolt, no latch, nothing. These should be able to open.” she tugged at the door, meeting the same resistance that Futaba had.

“So… is it jammed or something?”

“Where would it be jammed?” the council president muttered, “Wait, i’m getting distracted, who are you and where’s your class?”

“Futaba Sakura, I'm a first year.” 

“I’m Makoto Niijima, though I think you know that already,” she said, trying to put on a smile, “I’ll try and get one of these doors open, if you would go back to your class.”

“No, I wanna help.” Futaba said, “And you can’t make me go back. Not like you can threaten me with detention or something in a situation like this.”

“Fine, but you’re gonna heEEEELP!” Makoto yelled, jumping back from the door. Pixie was floating outside the glass, looking through to the main building.

“Another demon?” Futaba said, looking at the fairy intently.

“What do you mean _another_ demon?” Makoto said, anxiety shining in her voice.

“Uh… nothing!” Futaba said, keeping her eyes on the demon.

“Hey, that thing might be able to get in on the roof.” Makoto said, “We need to get up there and- wait!” she yelled, as the fairy flew up and out of sight. 

“The roof you said?” 

“Yeah, stay here.” Makoto said, turning and running up the stairs. Futaba followed, though Makoto groaned about it on the way up.

At the top of the stairs they heard the sound of something ceramic breaking. Makoto ran up to the door and opened it, finding the demon floating over a broken pot, attempting to piece it together. 

“Um… excuse me…” A girl’s voice said out of view of Makoto and Futaba, “What… are you?”

“Eh?” Pixie said, “I can’t understand you, you know.”

“What’s she trying to say?” Makoto said, as Futaba moved in closer.

“She’s saying that she can’t understand that girl.”

“Then how can you understand h- shit!” Makoto began, before hopping out of view. “I think that thing saw me…” 

“No good then, let me try.” Futaba said, stepping out the door and onto the roof.

“Ooh! Are you that human I was hearing?” Pixie said, clasping her hands together.

“Yeah, I can hear you.” Futaba said. “Feels weird talking to a demon I haven’t met before though…”

“Do you have a demon friend already?” she questioned, floating closer to the first year. 

“Mhm, his name’s Onmoraki.”

“Can I meet him?”

“Uh… sure.” Futaba said, sliding up her sleeve and activating the demon summoning program. After a few moments and a short flash, Onmoraki took his physical form.

“Hello miss!” he said, floating in the air much like she was.

“Aeigh!” a girl screamed off to the side, startling Futaba. 

“Right! You were up here!” Futaba said, looking at the other student on the roof. She had very fluffy brown hair, and wore an equally fluffy pink sweater over her uniform.

“How… how did you do that?!” the other student said, holding her hands to her face.

“Oh… she looks scared mistress Futaba…” Onmoraki said.

“It’s fine, I promise. We came up here to make sure nothing happened.” Futaba said.

“With… a monster?”

“No, with the student council president.”

“Wh-”

“No time! Just go!” Futaba said, pointing in the doorway to where Makoto was standing. “You’re scared, right? Better not to stick around then.” 

“Uh… yeah…” the student said, quickly moving along the wall and out the door. 

“You’re kinda like that kid with glasses I met in the other building…” Pixie said, “Is it those glasses that let you speak to demons?”

“Uh… I don’t think so. Pretty sure it’s something to do with this thing I found…” Futaba said, flicking his finger at her phone. “A ‘Demon Summoning Program’, supposedly.”

“Oh! So that’s what I’d heard stories about…”

“Huh? You’ve heard of it?” Futaba questioned, “I found it on our school’s computers…”

“Yeah Mistress, word travels around in the Expanse!”

“Expanse…?”

“That’s where you are right now, silly. Where else would you be?”

“So we’re in some sort of demon world?”

“Yeah, that’s the only way you’d be able to even see me at all! Ooooh, but if you have the demon summoning program, that must mean he does too!”

“Oh yeah, you mentioned you saw someone in there, who was it?”

“It was four people but… I think one got eaten by a Preta.”

“E-eaten?!” Futaba gasped, losing her built up composure.

“Yeah... Haunts like that are so aggressive about it too…” 

“What… about the other three?”

“Oh, well of two I couldn’t talk to, one is this real thin girl with red hair, and the other is a blond kid who walks funny.”

“Doesn’t ring any bells, what about the last one?

“Oh! He was this really handsome young man, with black hair and these big glasses. He just had this… aura about him, you know? Looked like the blondie was trying to show him where to go, even if I couldn’t understand him.”

“Did you get his name?”

“Oh! It slipped my mind to ask! Want me to go find him?”

“Yes please, if they’re stuck out there with something dangerous they need some sort of lifeline.”

“Oh I think they’ll be just fine, the one had demonic powers!” Pixie said. 

“Uh…” Futaba mumbled, blanking on what to reply with.

“Oh yeah! I should get your name before I go, I’m Pixie!”

“I’m Futaba, pleased to meet you.” 

“Well bye you two!” Pixie said, fluttering over the edge into the courtyard.

“Alright Mistress! You’re a natural… even if she was a nice demon.”

“I hope we don’t bump into whatever ate someone though…” Futaba said, “You should get back in before we go inside.”

“Alright, you better make sure you’re safe without me though!” Onmoraki said, returning to Futaba’s phone.

Futaba breathed a deep sigh of relief, she could still talk to people after all, even a demon-

Though the very confused and possibly _very_ angry student council president was going to be another matter entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, there was a long delay between the first two, but now I guess i'm just hitting my stride with this fic. Hope you enjoyed this too!


	5. Return and Regroup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira, Ryuji and Kasumi meet up with Futaba and Makoto, and try to figure out what's going on around them. Afterwards, Akira and Futaba find a new ally.

“So wait wait wait, that thing  _ popped _ out of a river of death, you absorbed it and took its powers, and now you’re alive?” Ryuji questioned.

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Akira said nonchalantly.

“And that doesn’t bother you? You seem unfazed by all this…” Kasumi said, leaning back into the metal chair. “And yet- I don’t see how it wouldn’t be the truth. The talking to demons, whatever that glowy deal was while you were fighting that demon, actually being alive... “

“We can think it over more once we’re safe.” Akira said, “The doors should be open now, since that runt is gone.”

“You seem a lot more… assertive now.” Kasumi said, “Could that be part of the whole ‘taking in a demon’ deal?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it…” Ryuji muttered, “Well whatever, let’s just get the hell out of here.

“Hey! Hey you!” Pixie called, flying down the hall towards the trio.

“Shit! She’s back!” Ryuji yelled.

“Hello again Pixie.” Akira said, meeting her eyes.

“You have a phone, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Akira said, pulling it out.

“Uh-huh, and is there a thing called the demon summoning program on it?”

“Yeah… when did this get here?” Akira said, opening it up.

“User with demonic energy detected. Skipping tutorial process.” A man’s voice said from the phone, creating a wrist mount shaped for Akira’s phone. 

“Oh yeah! That’s what that girl was wearing, I knew it!”

“What do you mean?” 

“Put it on, that might be an essential step!”

“Should… we even ask what’s going on?” Kasumi said to Ryuji.

“Nah, seems like he gets really… into it.” Ryuji muttered, as Akira finished attaching the brace to his forearm and sliding his phone inside.

“Ok! So now I should be able to join you, right?” Pixie said, floating close to Akira and looking over his phone screen.

“Maybe…” Akira said, looking through the various options available to him. “Demon negotiation…” 

“Oh! Alright! Here, let me back away.” Pixie said, floating a few feet back. “Ahem! You, human! I want to join you!”

“Well, that’s fine by me.” Akira said. The screen began to glow white, and in a flash Pixie turned into a burst of energy and flew into Akira’s phone.

“DUDE! What the shit did you just do?!” Ryuji yelled.

“I think we’re friends now.” Akira said, opening to see the demons he had. “Aquans and Pixie… You two might want to just go into the classroom building, I'm gonna summon both of these demons.”

“Wait… both?” Kasumi questioned, “Where’d a second one come from?”

“No idea, it was just on here.” Akira said, raising his wrist in front of him. “Go!”

At his command, the two demons emerged from his phone, taking their physical forms. 

“Yes! I knew it’d work master Akira!” Pixie said, all but dancing in midair. 

“What’s this with the ‘master’ business, and who’s this Aquans?”

“Master Akira, you have summoned us and you command us, it is only fit to call you what you are.” The watery demon spoke, its torso floating at a similar height to Akira’s. “Please, it’s only a formality.” 

“Well, if you say so. Good to have you two aboard.”

“Before you return us into your… device, allow me to warn you Master. Not every demon will be as loyal, even when convinced to join your cause. Demons like that may require your full attention until you can form a deeper bond with them.”

“Good thing we’re so nice, huh?” Pixie said, “We should hide in your phone while you’re around those other people though, they don’t seem to have any kind of guts.”

“Yeah, makes sense.” Akira said, “You guys unsettle my other two friends and they’re already caught up on demons existing.” 

“So it appears.” Aquans said, vanishing into Akira’s phone.

“You have a lot of power we can probably tap into…” Pixie said. She flew in close to Akira, resting on his shoulder. “Listen closely, i’m going to teach you the secrets of demons.” 

Akira tensed as Pixie began to whisper unearthly chants into his ear, unable to make his own body move. He could feel a surge of new strength throughout his body. Pixie silently slid down his arm and followed Aquans into his phone.

“Hey man, what just happened?” Ryuji said, walking up behind Akira.

“I’m… not sure.” Akira said, some form of instinct causing him to raise his hand to eye level. He snapped, and a blast of the same magic Incubus had used on the trio burst along the ground. 

“You can use that too?! Why didn’t you fight that demon with it?” Kasumi yelled.

“I didn’t know I could, or know how.” Akira said, walking across the walkway that led into the main building. He grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open.

“It worked!” Ryuji yelled, running inside the building. Kasumi followed quickly behind, taking in the warmth of even unnatural light.

“For a moment, I almost convinced myself that all that didn’t happen…” Kasumi puffed, “But for some reason despite not even being able to do much I just feel so…”

“Exhausted?” Ryuji grumbled, “Yeah, me too.”

“Did you three just come from the practice building?” an older girl said as she walked down the stairs, followed soon after by Futaba and Makoto. 

“Hey!” Futaba said, catching sight of the phone attached to Akira’s forearm. 

“Huh? What do you want?” Ryuji said, looking at Makoto. “If you wanna harass us about-”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Ryuji.” Kasumi said, “But yes, what do you want from us Niijima-san?”

“Those doors had been sealed shut somehow, we didn’t know how to get them open.” Makoto began, “We knew there were students locked out there, but…”

“We dealt with that.” Akira said.

“Is… that why you have a sword?”

“Might be.”

“Right…” Makoto said, “Would you mind… not bringing that into your classroom?”

“I wasn’t planning on going back there at all.”

“But-”

“This is kind of an emergency, you know.”

“You think I don’t know that? There’s  _ demons _ floating around apparently, or whatever Futaba said they were…”

“Futaba?” Akira said, looking between the two other girls. “I’m guessing the one with orange hair?” 

“Yeah, that’d be me.” Futaba said, “This is Haru.” she motioned towards the student in the pink sweater.

“Umm… hello.” Haru sputtered.

“Anyways,” Futaba continued, pulling up her sleeve to reveal the same type of arm mount Akira had, “We need to talk.”

“Well… I’m pretty sure the student council room will be open. Haru, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“I… think I’ll go. Thank you Niijima.” Haru said, turning and going further down the stairs.

“Heh, she was kinda cute.” Ryuji muttered to himself, drawing a glare from Makoto.

“ _ Anyways, _ we should get to somewhere private.” Makoto said, “Follow me.”

“Right.” Akira said, the group making their way upstairs once more.

* * *

“So, aside from you three who were presumed missing, ten other students have gone missing.” Makoto began to explain, “Have you seen or heard from anyone aside from yourselves?”

“Er… Reimu Takao, a first year… she didn’t make it.”

“I… I see.” Makoto said. Silence filled the room for a few moments.

“Anyways, I didn’t see students aside from us in the practice building or gymnasium.”

“Have any of you seen Mr. Kamoshida? Him, Ann Takamaki, and Yuuki Mishima have been missing since this morning.”

“Wait, this MORNING?” Ryuji yelled, leaning into the table, “And nobody said a damn thing?!”

“We weren’t sure... We assumed there wasn’t any relation between the events, at least, until all this happened.”

“Tch, some management.” Ryuji grumbled.

“Well whatever, I wanna know what my fellow demon summoner over here has to say.” Futaba said, looking over at Akira.

“Well, for one there’s a powerful demon in the gym.”

“What?!” Makoto yelled, “That close? Is that safe for everyone?”

“It looks like it’s gonna stay there- for now at least.” Akira said, not like there’s anything you could do about it anyways.”

“Not like anyone but you two seem to be able to deal with demons…” Ryuji said, scratching at his head, “No need to be mean about it.”

“Sorry, sorry. Anyways, should I go down the rest of the list? I died, I was brought back to life by a demon that popped out of a river, I can use magic, and killing a demon is what let us get back here.” Akira said. Makoto and Futaba just stared in silence.

“We need you to be serious, this is a life or death situation.”

“He… He is being serious.” Kasumi said, resting her hands on the desk in front of her.

“I… have an onion bird?” Futaba said, flicking at her phone. “How’d you get the demon summoning program anyways?”

“Not sure, it was on my phone when a demon asked about it.”

“Pixie, right?”

“Oh, you met her too?”

“Geez, now you guys are goin’ on about demons.” Ryuji groaned, “Is it alright if I just… take a nap? I’m beat…”

“Er, me too.” Kasumi said, “It’s been a lot…”

“That’s fine, but…” Makoto said, “I’m going to need at least one of you to go back into the practice building and grab something like sheets from the nurses office. There’s a LOT of students here you know, we need to provide them somewhere to sleep.

“Yeah… You have to keep them here. The practice building isn’t safe.” Akira said, “Make sure that windows are locked and such, so a demon doesn’t get in.”

“Please don’t say things like that, it’s already stressful trying to keep people civil. You know how many students have been saying gross things to Kawakami-Sensei because they think they can get away with it?”

“Typical…”

“So, which one of us should go?” Futaba said, looking between Akira and Makoto.

“I mean, I guess I can go.” Akira said, “I have two demons to protect me, it shouldn’t be that bad.”

“Alright I guess…” Futaba said, “What are we gonna do about that demon in the gym anyways?”

“All we really can do is try to kill it, I guess. That’d fall on you and me, since we have demons to do so.”

“It’ll still be dangerous though.” Makoto said, “No point in trying to do it now, especially when Futaba doesn’t have a weapon.”

“Oh, well…” Akira said, reaching into his pockets and pulling out the pocket knife he had found earlier. 

“Oh, thank you!” Futaba said.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to talk over plans. I’ve been away long enough.” Makoto said. “Just please don’t do anything dangerous.”

“I guess I’ll go too then, i’ll just slow ya down.” Ryuji said, “Cheers man.”

“Same here. Thank you Akira-senpai.” Kasumi said with a bow, before leaving afterwards.

“So, you’re the kid Sojiro picked up aren’t you?” Futaba began as soon as the door was closed.

“Yeah, you’re his daughter then?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Futaba said, “Weird to think we could have met each other already.”

“Yeah, seems like Leblanc is haunted or something if we both have some sort of demons.”

“Not shocking to me that that old place would be haunted.”

“It’s weird, y’know? I heard Sojiro complaining that you seemed really reserved and quiet, but I don’t see that at all.” 

“I guess I really am a delinquent, huh?” Akira chuckled.

“Well whatever, what’s important is that you’re apparently the only person who’s really capable of fighting those things right now, at least directly. I’ll stay here in case something happens, you’re better suited to going out, y’know?”

“It sure is convenient to have things like this around the school though…” Akira said, “Can’t imagine what it’d be like if everyone had to sleep on the floor or something.”

“Yeah… Why don’t we just go together? If we get attacked wouldn’t it be better to just have both of us together?”

“I guess… we won’t be gone for long so it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Alright, I won’t complain,” Akira said, “Follow me.”

* * *

“Jeez, you weren’t lying when you said it was dark in here.” Futaba muttered, buttoning up her uniform coat, “Cold in here too.” 

“Yeah, feels colder than it did before... colder than it should be.” Akira said, “Stay on guard.”

Both tensed at the sound of a fist beating on the emergency exit at the end of the hall. The duo walked over, whatever was on the other side beating again. 

“Who the hell would be outside at a time like this?” Futaba questioned, drawing the pocket knife. 

“Let’s ask.” Akira said, walking up to the door, “Who’s this?”

“Oh! There is someone in there!” a young man said from outside, “Could you let me in?”

“Why are you at an emergency exit when there’s the giant main entrance just a few meters over?”

“I couldn’t get around the shrubs, not without ruining my uniform.”

“You go here then?” 

“No, not at all. I go to Kosei Academy.”

“I have no idea what that is or where it is.”

“How have you not heard of Kosei?” Futaba whispered, “It’s HUGE, and  _ definitely _ not what Shujin wishes it was.”

“Well that’s rude, but not entirely untrue.” the stranger said, “It is a very nice place.”

“You heard me?!”

“You’re not exactly quiet, so yes.” 

“Well whatever, what were you doing here if you’re a Kosei student? You shouldn’t have been here when this all started.”

“Ah, I’ve been meaning to ask about that actually… What exactly is going on? I’d appreciate having a view without the city in the way, but this is not quite what I anticipated.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“People watching.”

“Oh, so you’re a creep then?” Futaba deadpanned, “Yeah, no way in hell I’m opening this door.”

“Wait! It’s a normal thing, I swear!”

“Huh, suddenly interested in getting in?”

“It’s… quite cold out here.”

“Well let me tell you buddy, it isn’t any warmer in here.”

“What’s your name?”

“Yusuke Kitagawa.”

“You know, I don’t know why I asked… It’s not like I’d know you anyways.”

“Well that’s to be expected, I suppose...” the stranger mumbled, “Is… there any way I can get you to let me in?”

“Yeah, just give me a second.” Futaba said, pulling up her sleeve and summoning Onmoraki.

“Don’t you think that’ll scare him?” Akira asked, as Onmoraki shivered in the cold air.

“Eh, good riddance then.” Futaba shrugged, “You’re gonna want to back up. The power’s out so it won’t sound any sort of alarm, but it opens outward.”

“Oh! Thank you.” the stranger said, followed by the dull sound of footsteps. 

“You sure about this?” Akira said.

“Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Alright.” Akira said, pushing open the door. On the other side was a tall young man with blue hair.

“Why do you have a sword?” Yusuke questioned, looking between the two and the demon floating behind him.

“THAT is what you question?!” Futaba yelled.

“Yes. Your bird is very beautiful, I still don’t know where you would have found a sword in a school though.”

“He’s a  _ demon _ , not a bird.”

“A demon bird… how lovely.” Yusuke said, focusing intently on Onmoraki. 

“Well… uh… Are you coming in?” Futaba said, stepping back from the door.

“Of course.” he said, stepping in with the duo. 

“So.” Akira said, “What are you trying to do?”

“I wasn’t planning anything long term, it was just cold outside. You weren’t lying that it was just as cold in here too.” 

“Well then Kitagawa, do you wanna help us?”

“Do you need a hand?” 

“Well we do have things to carry, and you don’t really seem to be bothered by much.”

“I  _ have  _ been outside for the last hour or two while the entire city just suddenly vanished, I don’t know why that’s odd.”

“Yeah but… whatever, just help us.” Futaba muttered.

“It’d be my pleasure.” Yusuke said, bowing his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how I feel about this one (It kinda had to be a slow episode between the action, oop)  
> I hope it was at least interesting enough before our first real big fight.


	6. Fomor, Guardian of the Fledgling World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some small introductions and the discovery of the Cathedral of Shadows app, Akira slays Fomor in the gymnasium, and finds the Temple of the Demon Emperor.

“Er… who is this?” Makoto said, the new trio returning to the building with various supplies that were looted from the Nurse’s office.

“I am Yusuke Kitagawa, from Kosei.”

“Kosei…? How’d you get caught in all of this?”

“People watching.”

“Right…” Makoto said uncertainly, looking the student up and down. 

“I hope I’m not being a burden.” Yusuke said.

“Well, I couldn’t exactly kick you out if I wanted to…” she muttered, “Just… you three drop off what you have, after that you’re free to go.”

“Why thank you.” Yusuke said with a small bow. “I’ll just find somewhere to stay for the time being.”

“Anyways, I’m assuming things went fine?” Makoto said, turning towards Akira and Futaba.

“Yep!” Futaba said, “It’s cold as hell in there though.”

“It’s odd to me that the power is out in there, yet perfectly fine in here.” Yusuke said, “It’s not as though you have a backup generator running, this appears to be just normal power.”

“Might have something to do with where we are,” Akira said, “Whatever this place we’re in might be providing the building power.”

“I guess?” Futaba said, “Still doesn’t really add up though.”

“Regardless, I think you two should rest for the time being. There’s no telling when something might happen again, you know?”

“Signing us up for guard duty, huh?” Futaba teased.

“If you want to call it that, I guess,” Makoto shrugged, “I was more concerned about that one demon in the gym that Akira had mentioned before.”

“We might want to get rid of it before it comes to get rid of us.” Akira said.

“Yeah… I’m kinda scared to try though. It’s already beaten you once, right?” Futaba said, looking over to Akira.

“Maybe, but I was also a lot flimsier then.”

“You’d still probably be flimsy now.” Makoto deadpanned, “From the looks of it, you haven’t exactly been hit at all since then, have you?”

“Twice, and the second time Kasumi and Ryuji took more of it than I did.”

“What happened, wouldn’t you have been in front of them?”

“Magic, after that I’ve been able to block or dodge anything else thrown at me.”

“I see... Well, you shouldn’t underestimate these things, if I had to guess they’re the reason we’re in this mess at all.”

“Maybe… It’s too early to rest right now though, I’ll go… make myself busy I guess.” Futaba said, “Should I take Yusuke with me?”

“I’m capable of handling myself, you know.” Yusuke said, with an expression between a kicked puppy and a disappointed child. 

“Doesn’t mean it’d hurt to have someone show you around,” Makoto said, “Besides, if someone sees you just walking around alone they’d probably raise a lot of questions.”

“I suppose…” Yusuke said, “Could I pick someone else though?”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Futaba said, “You’re lucky I don’t know you or I’d totally punch you!”

“Is it not usually the other way around, where not knowing someone would make you punch them?”

“On second thought…” Makoto began, before being interrupted by Futaba stomping over and forcefully grabbing Yusuke’s arm.

“You’re coming with me, dick!”

“I don’t believe I’m a de- ouch!” Yusuke said, being interrupted as well by Futaba, only with a punch to the side.

“Well.” Akira said, “You two certainly seem to have gotten along already.”

“Preposterous!” Yusuke said, “She’s just going to strike me again!”

“Then be nice!”

“You punched me!”

“So much for getting rest…” Makoto sighed, “Futaba, please don’t punch Kitagawa. Everyone here has it rough enough as is.”

“No promises.” 

“If you cannot promise to not harm me, why are you trying to lead me at all?”

“Yeah… Why don’t you just let me?” Makoto said, “You really just seem like you’re going to hurt him more.

“Fiiiiiine, I’ll go then.” Futaba said, walking off after dropping off what she’d collected.

“By the way, Akira,” Makoto said, “The staff agreed to have the doors to the practice building locked. The ones upstairs are already closed up, but I left this one open for you guys.” She drew a key from the pocket of her uniform, tossing it to Akira. “That’s one of the spares, if you need to go for any reason.”

“Alright, thanks.” Akira said, pocketing the key.

“Well, I suppose I’ll be seeing you then.” Yusuke said, “Thank you for not letting me freeze.”

“Don’t worry about it, all we did was open a door.” Akira said.

“Well regardless, please do take care of yourself. You’re the only person who seems to be able to reliably deal with demons, so you being in your best form is important.”

“Alright, alright.” Akira said, “Ryuji and Kasumi are still fine, right?”

“Last I checked, yes.” Makoto said, as Yusuke stared confused at the two Shujin students.

“A lot happened in a few hours, huh…” Akira muttered to himself, now alone in the student council room.. “I don’t exactly have a change of clothes or anything either…” His internal struggle over a lack of clean clothes was quickly cut short by the buzzing of his phone. 

Unknown Number: Yo, this still works after all!

Akira: Futaba? 

Futaba: Yep! I guess you finally caught on, huh?

Akira: Considering I only really met you today, I think that’s excusable.

Futaba: You’re no fun to tease :(

Futaba: Well whatever, I just need you to get to the teacher’s lounge.

Futaba: It’s about the Demon Summoning Program.

Akira: Did you discover something new?

Futaba: Kinda. It’s called the Cathedral of Shadows, but it says I can’t use it with only one demon. 

Akira: Fine, I’ll be down soon.

Akira pocketed his phone, and began to walk down to where Futaba was waiting.

“Oh, you’re quick.” Futaba said as he opened the door.

“Mmm. So about this ‘Cathedral of Shadows’.” Akira said, walking up beside her and looking over her shoulder at the two screens she had connected.

“Yeah, so I figured i’d try to screw around with the demon summoning program, but here’s the thing,” she said, trying to rifle through the program on the computer, “ _I can’t._ Not how I want to anyways.”

“And then you found another app.” Akira said, leaning a hand on the desk.

“Yep, same way I found the Demon Summoning Program, it somehow uploaded itself to these computers, all of them. I checked each one in this room, and I even checked one in another room, they’re both on all of them.”

“So you want me to try and use it, right?”

“Yeah, like I said, it wouldn’t let me since I only have Onmoraki.”

“Well, I guess it won’t hurt.” Akira said, pulling out his phone. Futaba grabbed it, before squinting at the screen.

“Uh… it’s already on here.”

“Huh?”

“You already got it somehow...” Futaba said, handing it back to him. “How do you not notice something like that?”

“Wasn’t looking for it.”

“Yeah… okay.”

“Well… Here goes.” Akira said, opening the application. At once, his screen went dark. After a few moments, text began to appear on the screen.

“Cannot access the Cathedral of Shadows while the Guardian of the Fledgling World lives.” Akira read.

“Bullshit!” Futaba yelled, “Why didn’t it tell me that the first time?!”

“I’m just questioning what that “Guardian of the Fledgeling World” is supposed to be…” Akira muttered, “The demon in the gym?” 

“Most likely…” Futaba said, scratching at her head. “Not like we want to fight it though.”

“Well… I do kinda want payback.” 

“Oh yeah, it kicked your ass once didn’t it?”

“You’re gonna keep bringing that up, huh?”

“Until you die again, dude.”

“Don’t jinx me.”

“Well, I guess it’s up to you if you want to go, you evidently didn’t leave your sword behind.” Futaba said, elbowing the handle of Akira’s blade.

“Not really tired or anything else like that, might be worth a shot.”

“You sure? You don’t wanna like _rest_ beforehand?”

“I couldn’t, it’s too weird in there, and then I started to think about how we don’t have stuff to change into or anything else like that.”

“Nah, they’ll have at least a few spare uniforms,” Futaba said, “The real question is if you have an extra life in you or not.”

“He won’t kill me again, I’m sure of it.” Akira said, while Futaba frowned.

“Alright, but I’m not writing you an obituary or anything.” she shrugged, “See ya on the flip side, if that’s Hell or here in about fifteen minutes.”

“Alright, see ya.” Akira said, leaving the room.

“I should have known you’d be doing this when I gave you that key,” Makoto said. Akira lifted his hand from the lock, the key still inside.

“Getting rid of that demon is for everyone’s own good.” Akira said, making eye contact with the 3rd year. 

“I know, that’s why I’m not going to stop you,” Makoto said, “But please, don’t be an idiot. If you can’t handle it then get out of there. Don’t try to be brave and just get yourself killed.”

“I’ll be careful, I’m lucky to be alive as is.”

“Just… don’t let it go to your head, okay? From what Yoshizawa said, you got a lot more cocky after your scuffle with it before.”

“I’ll do my best, I promise.” Akira said, opening the door and stepping outside. Makoto remained silent as the door closed behind him. 

The gym was only a few paces away, and Akira quickly walked over to the metal doors. He paused, and raised his phone. Silently, he summoned Pixie and Aquans. They could both sense the demon nearby, and nodded silently in understanding. Akira grasped the handle of one of the doors and pulled it open, stepping inside.

“So, you return.” Fomor said, standing on the other side of the room.

“Can’t tell?” Akira said, drawing his sword.

“You bring demons to fight... “ Fomor said, “You must really want me dead.”

“That’s the idea, good on you for figuring it out.”

“Hrmph. You run from death once… but I return you to it.” Fomor bleated, slamming a massive fist onto the ground.

Both Akira and Fomor rushed towards each other, yet Fomor paused just outside of the length of Akira’s blade. The demon raised its hand, a bolt of electricity sparking at Akira’s feet. He grunted as he stumbled backwards, narrowly avoiding Fomor’s fist as the demon attempted to strike him. Fomor took a leap forward only to be hit by a chunk of ice striking it in the chest. Fomor turned to face Aquans and Pixie, and fired a bolt in their direction. Pixie flew upwards, retaliating with Zan and blasting Fomor in the side of the head. Akira took the moment to rush forwards and cut into the demon’s thick arm, the blade scraping against bone as Akira jumped backwards to avoid yet another swing from the giant demon.

“You’re pissin’ me off! Mazio!” The demon yelled, bolts of electricity flying around the entire building. Akira grunted as electricity struck him in the chest, but Fomor wasn’t focused on him. The enemy rushed towards Aquans, punching the elemental into the wall behind it. Aquans struggled to rise as Fomor fired another Zio to finish the weaker demon off. 

“Zan!” Akira yelled, firing a gust of his own at Fomor. The demon whipped around, and huffed loudly.

“Master Akira! Get ready, he’s going to charge at you!” Pixie yelled from near the ceiling. Akira nodded, and felt a cool wave of relief wash over him as Pixie’s hand glowed green. “That should help, but you can’t afford to get hit!” 

Fomor began its charge towards Akira, it’s arms out at its sides to catch him if he tried to dodge to the sides.

“Guess the only way is up.” Akira said, channeling another Zan in his left hand. 

“Die!” Fomor yelled, as Akira released the blast of force magic at his own feet, propelling him into the air. As Fomor tried to slow itself and look up, Akira plunged the blade into the back of the demon’s neck, tearing the blade across the demon’s spinal cord as it ran by. Fomor screeched in pain as it tumbled to the ground, followed soon by the dull thud of Akira landing on his back. Fomor writhed in pain a few meters away, trying to reach for the tear along their neck and upper back. 

“Let me put you out of your misery.” Akira said, walking up to the demon.

“You piece of shit!” Fomor yelled through screeches of agony. “You should have stayed where you belong!”

“Not too intent on that.” Akira replied, charging his energy into his sword. 

“You think the demon emperor will be happy with you?!” 

“I don’t think that’s important to you now.” Akira said, walking around the demon’s flailing arms and putting a foot on the demon’s head. 

“You… wouldn’t…”

“Hey, you killed me once, it’s only fair.” Akira answered, swinging his blade through the demon’s neck. With a thump, its head fell to the ground at Akira’s feet. Across the gym the door to the courtyard burst open, Futaba running inside with Onmoraki at her side. 

“Oh… shit.” she gasped, “Hey Akira, you realize you look like you got hit with like… a blood water balloon, right?”

“Huh?” Akira said, looking over himself. The demon’s blood was all over his body, especially his right arm. 

“Did you like _try_ to paint yourself or something?”

“No, just kinda happened, what with cutting into his neck and all that.”

“Yeah… well just don’t go anywhere cuz… you kinda look like a serial killer dude.”

“Yeah…” Akira said, as Pixie flew down onto his (cleaner) left shoulder.

“Should I go get Makoto to get you a new uniform?” 

“Shouldn’t be necessary.” Akira replied nonchalantly, “Is that Cathedral of Shadows thing working yet?”

“Oh right, that.” Futaba said, returning Onmoraki. “You’d still be the only one who can use it, but… you’re a little messy.”

“Well, I could-” Akira began, before a bright flash shone from Fomor’s corpse. Hovering over its body was a glowing white ring, hovering level with Akira’s eyes. Wiping his blade on Fomor’s fur, he sheathed the blade and reached out to grab the ring.

“Hey wait, is that a good id-” Futaba began, as Akira grasped the ring in his right hand. With another flash, it vanished, and Akira felt a dull warmth in his chest. Almost immediately, the entire school began to shake again, and a tear opened in the floor in the center of the summoning circle on the floor.

“What the hell…?” Akira said, stepping closer to the portal.

“That… shouldn’t happen.”

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.” Akira said, reaching a hand out towards the anomaly.

“Wait, what if that brings you somewhere dangerous? Or just kills you?”

“Only one way to find out, I guess.” he replied nonchalantly, as he grasped at the edges. In an instant, his vision went black.

It was as though he was falling, hurtling at a high speed towards _something._ Just as suddenly as everything went dark, Akira hurtled forwards into light. He stumbled, before ultimately falling to his knees. He stood up and looked around. He was in some sort of stone chamber, well lit despite being made of some sort of beige stone. 

“Oh shi-” Futaba yelled, hurtling out the same way Akira did, slamming into him and sending them both to the ground. “That’s one method of transport I guess…”

“Yeah…” Akira said, “Can you uh… get off me?”

“Fine.” Futaba said, standing up. “What the hell is this place though?”

“This old place?” A distorted human voice called from around the pillar in the center of the room, “This is my domain.”

“Master, that’s…” Pixie began, as Akira drew his sword. From around the corner walked a young student, slightly shorter than Akira. He had black hair, and wore the pants of the shujin uniform despite having a different sweater instead of the typical school blazer. 

“Bravo to you for making it here, I wondered how long it would take for one of you to stop being a little bitch.” the student spoke, his eyes seeming to pierce into Akira’s skull despite the smile on his face.

“Wait, you’re that volleyball kid aren’t you, Yuuki Mishima right?” Futaba said, “How’d you get here?”

“How did _I_ get here?” he chuckled, “I created this place. I’m not longer some weak pathetic human, like that coward he was… No, I’m the Demon Emperor now.” For just a moment, Akira and Futaba saw the form of a far larger monstrosity, hovering behind Mishima’s body. “You should know your place and go where you’re wanted, but don’t let me stop you. Maybe you can help those missing students… at least, the ones still alive.”

“Wait, what do you mean?!” Futaba said, as Mishima’s form returned around the corner. Futaba ran forward, only to find that he was gone.

“What the hell was all that?” Akira said, standing behind Futaba.

“I don’t know… but it isn’t good for us, that’s for sure.” Futaba muttered.


	7. A Familiar Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira and Futaba meet Ann in the World of Lust, with a demon protecting her. Learning more of the world they've been dragged into, they return to the World of Lust to rescue some of the students who've been trapped in its depths.

“What do we do now?” Futaba said, apprehension rising despite her calm expression.

“Get out of here, I guess.” Akira said, turning to where they’d entered. Aside from the pillar in the middle, every door in the chamber was sealed shut, including the one they had entered from. Realizing this, Akira stepped inside the pillar. In an instant, the door crashed shut behind him.

There was no light on the inside, aside from a dull glow slowly rising in intensity from Akira’s hand. The ring that had been absorbed into his body after killing Fomor burned into reality once more, illuminating the inside of the pillar. With a blinding flash, the ring vanished, and a line of red seeped down a crevice in the wall and under the floor. Just as quickly as it had closed behind him, the stone door opened.

“So uh… what the hell?” Futaba said, motioning towards the now open door behind her.

“Ring thing popped out.” Akira said with a shrug, “Guess it was some sort of key.”

“Well, this door isn’t the one we came in from…”

“I don’t like our chances of busting through though…”

“Who knows where the hell it goes though, hopping in the first one already could have gotten us killed…”

“Well, not like starvation is a good alternative.”

“You’d die of dehydration first.”

“Thanks for the info.” Akira said, stepping before the dark doorway. Unlike the tear in reality that was created after Fomor’s demise, it seemed almost as though reality just ended at the darkness in front of them, as though he could reach out and grasp it. With an open hand, Akira reached into the blackness, and felt a similar tug as his body was dragged through another portal.

Expecting to be flung again, Akira managed to stay on his feet as he hurtled forward. Pixie quickly followed, floating in the air above him. He took a moment to look around, as he turned around to make sure Futaba didn’t just crash into him again. Dark red bricks were complemented by blood, grime, and chains hanging from the ceiling in various states of rust and disrepair. Quickly after, Futaba hurtled out from the darkness of the gateway, similar to the one that had been within the temple. Leaning back and flailing her arms, she stayed on her feet without any need for Akira’s help.

“Jeez, you’d think they’d have a better way to get around…”

“I don’t know, teleportation seems kinda advanced.”

“I could do without the risk of face planting every time though… It’s kinda chilly here too.”

“I doubt there’s heating,” Akira said, turning around and stepping out of the room. They were in the middle of a corridor, with both ends turning to the same direction. 

“Wait up, we really should stay together here, you and Pixie are kinda tired, aren’t you?”

“Not that much, I’m more concerned for you.”

“Speak for yourself, magic is hard…” Pixie muttered. 

“Oh, my bad.” Akira said, returning the demon to his phone.

“Well regardless, we should get going. We need a way back, and quickly.” Futaba said, pulling out her pocket knife. They turned to the right, and passed by multiple empty cells. The sound of something approaching caused the duo to stop and quickly dash into the nearest cell.

“Fret not Lady Ann, the exit is right this-” a young boyish voice said, before stopping suddenly. “Hold, I smell something ahead.”

“You’re injured already, there’s no reason to-” a girl said, followed by the patter of multiple footsteps. “You don’t need to, seriously.”

“This is my duty as your demon, Lady Ann.” the boyish demon said, followed by a metallic clang against the stone wall. “I know you’re there, come out!”

“I think he means us.” Futaba whispered, “You think we can trust that ‘Lady Ann’?” 

“We’ll see.” Akira replied, walking out of the cell with his hands raised to his shoulders. He turned to face a black, catlike demon. In one paw, it grasped a metal saber almost as long as it was tall. A large red hat, cape and boots complemented its bright green eyes. Behind the demon was the same girl he’d met that morning, only far dirtier. A flash of recognition shone in her eyes, despite Akira’s far bloodier appearance.

“What are you doing here? You aren’t one of the prisoners.” the demon said, stepping closer and pointing the saber at Akira.

“I’m looking for a way back to the school.”

“And what about the other one with you?” the demon continued, motioning his head to the cell.

“Shit.” Futaba said, stepping out from the cell near Akira.

“She’s with me, we didn’t really want to get dragged here.”

“Wait, are you saying you couldn’t get back?” Ann asked, “He said it’d have a way back.”

“No, it closed behind us.” Futaba said, “Only this way was open.”

“So we don’t have a choice but to deal with him…” the demon muttered to itself, scratching at its chin with its free hand. 

“Him?” Akira questioned, lowering his hands.

“Oh, right. Humans…” The demon began, before pausing. “It isn’t safe to explain everything out here in the open. There are demons amok here, especially since Lady Ann escaped.”

“Escaped...?” Akira and Futaba muttered

“Geez, you’re  _ really _ behind. Well, we can at least go back somewhat, better than talking... here.” 

“Alright, well I can’t argue with that.”

“So…” the demon began, “Where should I start?”

“Well, introductions wouldn’t hurt.” Ann said, “I’m… Ann Takamaki, a second-year.” 

“And I'm Cait Sith, a demon... as you can tell.”

“So, what’s going on here?”

“I had figured if you had demons with you they would have explained it already but… you’re in the Expanse, the world of demons.”

“Do you know how we got here?” 

“Lady Ann-”

“Just Ann is fine, really.”

“Nonsense.” Cait Sith said firmly, “Anyways, the only times things like this happen are when humans cause it to. One of your own must have started this, for some reason or another.”

“That must be Mishima then…” Futaba muttered, “But why would he go to an extreme like this?”

“It’s not unusual a human would do something without understanding it, especially if he’d been manipulated by someone else.”

“You say that like these sorts of things have happened before.”

“That’s because they have.” 

“What?!” the three students yelled in unison, their faces in various states of shock.

“Huh? How would you guys not notice entire schools going missing? Isn’t that just a  _ little _ suspicious?”

“I’ve… never heard of anything like this before.”

“Well, the last one of note was a while ago, it involved a whole school, like what’s happening now.”

“How do you know about the school?”

“What? You think demons  _ wouldn’t _ notice an entire school popping up? Bloody hell, it’s a miracle it hasn’t been invaded already.”

“Then we need to get back, nobody else there can fight demons.” Akira said, “How would we get that door open?”

“Well, all I can think is that you kill the Ruler of the World of Lust to get his Rosetta, or… we beat down one of his officers and use them instead. Of course, this will only work once. If you wanted to go in and out, you’d need to beat another strong demon or the ruler themselves.”

“That’s… a lot to take in.” Futaba said, scratching at her face. 

“You can rest for a little, but…” Cait Sith muttered, “I don’t think it's safe for Lady Ann to go back there.”

“But is it safe for her to stay here either?” Futaba asked, “Wouldn’t there be demons around here too?”

“No, not really. All the demons are up above.”

“That… doesn’t sound very safe.”

“They won’t come down here, trust me. I wouldn’t suggest for her to stay here if she was in danger.”

“I’m right here you know…” Ann said sheepishly, “I wouldn’t be able to sit still knowing you guys are out in danger anyways.”

“But you don’t have the demon summoning program like they do, you’ll be in danger.”

“Wait, how can she understand you then?” Futaba said, looking down at the cat demon.

“I’ve been speaking Japanese, duh.”

“But… how do you know Japanese?”

“How do you?” Cait Sith said, tilting his head as though he was confused at the question.

“Well why don’t most demons know human languages?”

“Well really any demon probably could, but why would most of them bother?”

“Well what I’m interested in is what her having the demon summoning program means, since she has you on her side.”

“Well… how do I explain it? Basically, having it means you can more easily damage demons, and they can less easily damage you. It brings you to our… wavelength? I think it’s something like that anyways…”

“Yeah…” Akira said, wiping off his glasses. “Did you want to stay behind Takamaki?”

“No.” She said, turning to Cait Sith, “I can’t just sit here while you guys go in there, regardless of what you say.”

“Hold on a moment Takamaki, do you have your phone?”

“No, I don’t.” 

“The demons confiscated things when they captured the people who were dragged in here with that one flat faced guy.”

“Flat faced guy?”

“Yeah! He was super tall, and he has this long flat face!” Cait Sith answered, “Like almost the size of my hat.”

“Kamoshida…” Ann muttered, suddenly looking downtrodden.

“Yeah, him! He went and got possessed by some bigwig demon because he was a screwed up enough vessel for them.”

“Really?” Futaba questioned, “I’ve never really paid attention to the sports teams, but…”

“He’s… awful.” Ann said, “And I guess this just goes to show it.”

“If he’s possessed, is he any danger to us?” Akira asked, walking over and leaning on the gateway to the World of Lust.

“Not directly, no. By all intents and purposes he’s  _ currently _ still a person, but he could become a powerful demon if left to his own devices.” 

“Then let’s get going.” 

“Alright… You sure you want to come, Lady Ann?” 

“Absolutely.”

“Well, in we go.” Akira said, twisting around the corner and into the dark portal.

“Gotta say,” Futaba said, the party turning around the corner, “It’s really brave of you to come back into this place.”

“My… friend is still in here.” Ann said, “I can’t just leave them behind either.”

“Really…” Akira muttered. “We might be able to get her out when we go to get your things.”

“That’d be dangerous. The cells were all guarded quite well. It was easy to free Lady Ann because the flat faced guy had her separated… everyone else isn’t so lucky.” Cait Sith said, leading the party around the corner and upstairs.

“Just a better reason to hurry.” Akira said. The top of the stairs opened up to a large atrium; the “sky” above being the same empty darkness that surrounded the school. 

“From here on out, try to be as quiet as possible, okay?” Cait Sith said, “The more demons we fight the more injured we’ll be, and likewise the more demons that’ll come from the noise of all of our fighting.”

As if on cue, the sound of a demon screaming in pain sounded from the passage to their right. This was followed the sound of metallic clangs. 

“Let’s go while they’re fighting then,” Akira said. Cait Sith nodded, and led the party across the large atrium. 

“Where you guys were was one of the smaller prisons, where we’re going is the larger main one.” the demon said, padding around a corner.

“What would they need so many for?” Futaba muttered, following behind Ann. 

“You just heard why. Demons fight each other quite often, especially here. Just kinda happens with how… excited this place seems to make them.”

“Including you?” Akira smirked.

“Absolutely not! I’m civilized!”

“Can you two not try and pick on each other? We’re keeping quiet, remember?”

“Keeping quiet, huh?” a red humanoid demon said, exiting a doorway lining the corridor.

“Shit, that’s my fault isn’t it…” Akira said, eyeing the demon as it stood up to its full height and raised an equally large naginata. 

“Yeah! It is!” Futaba yelled, summoning Onmoraki. The red demon lunged forward, taking a swing at Cait Sith. With a swipe of his paw, Cait Sith blasted himself upwards, evading the first blow only to be caught with the dull edge of the weapon and flung backwards towards Ann. Akira lunged forward, swinging his blade into the demon’s arm. Despite the force of the cut, it only made a shallow wound in the demon’s arm. 

“It resists physical attacks, don’t bother!” Cait Sith yelled, helped up by Ann. He launched another blast of wind at the red demon, which evidently pissed the demon off. 

“Surround it and keep blasting!” Akira yelled, firing a gust of wind of his own at the demon. It swung its weapon at Akira, knocking the sword out of his hand. 

“This thing’s more powerful than we are!” Futaba yelled. Onmoraki blasted the demon in the back of the head, causing it to whip around and narrowly miss the floating raptor. Akira used the distraction to fire another spell, aiming specifically for the demon’s neck. With a loud crack, the demon’s neck broke. It fell to its knees, and then loudly tumbled to the ground.

“So… about staying quiet.” Futaba said while glaring at Akira.

“Hey, we’re all fine.” he said, picking up his sword and sheathing it. 

“Oh hey! It dropped something!” Cait Sith said, picking up a handgun from the demon’s belt. 

“Huh. That looks American.” Futaba said, taking it from Cait Sith’s paw. She pulled out the magazine. “It’s loaded too.”

“Think it’ll work?” Akira asked.

“It better!” Ann yelled, backing towards the group, “We’ve got more company!”

“Get ‘em!” Cait Sith yelled, as two Incubus began to approach. 

“Alright!” Futaba yelled, pointing the weapon at the two flying demons. With a loud bang, the first one fell to the ground.

“Holy shit that’s loud!” Akira yelled, covering his ears.

“It works though!” Futaba said, firing at the second demon as it began to fire a wind spell at her. The spell exploded in its hand, launching its body against the wall.

“Maybe… her having the gun is a bad idea.” Cait Sith muttered.

“Nah, Akira has the sword.” she puffed.

“She has a point.” Akira said, “Not like the pocket knife is exactly gonna be winning any fights.”

“Uh… Futaba? How do you know how to fire a gun anyways?” Ann asked tentatively.

“I don’t. Well, not really.”

“Look, it doesn’t matter! We need to move before more demons come.” Cait Sith ordered, stepping into the still open doorway the red demon had opened. As the party slipped inside and shut the door, they could hear more demons starting to gather outside. 

The room was dark and unfurnished, with several wooden crates lining the floor. A few were broken, while others merely had gashes from weapons and claws in them.

“Huh, I wonder what demons would keep in crates…” Futaba said, pulling out her knife and trying to pry one open. Akira shushed her, Cait Sith’s ear twitching as he stood near the door. 

“We should hide, just in case.” Ann whispered, crouching out of sight. The rest of the group silently followed, as demons stormed around outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, i wrote this over the course of like 3 weeks between different school work, so if things look screwey that might be why. If you see anything, tell me.


	8. The World of Lust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira, Futaba and Ann tread deeper into the World of Lust, getting closer to the students who are being held captive in its depths. Akira recruits a new demon, he and Futaba are insulted by another, and they learn of a much more powerful demon lurking nearby.
> 
> Meanwhile, inside the school, Ryuji and Yusuke obtain the Demon Summoning Program and go to follow Akira.

“Alright,” Cait Sith said, walking next to the door, “Seems like they’ve all moved on.”

“You sure?” Ann asked, the three humans standing up and approaching the feline demon. 

“Of course, Lady Ann.” Cait Sith said, hopping up and opening the door. “The less direct combat we face the better. You guys are still weak, so you don’t have the endurance to handle multiple enemies one after another.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Akira said, taking the head of the group once more and leading them onward down the castle corridors. 

The design of the castle slowly shifted from a dignified fortress to that of a dungeon, with tapestries and long rugs being replaced by chains and dried bloodstains.

“Two demons up ahead, those big red ones.” Akira whispered, holding out his arm to make the party stop and move against the wall.

“We should take advantage of this.” Cait Sith whispered with a smirk. “You know how you used Zan to kill that one from before? That may have just been luck, but it’s still worth a shot on these ones.” Akira nodded in response and snuck closer, sticking to the pillars along the walls as demons’ whispers grew louder. 

“Bah. Oni are strong, humans are not. If one Oni dies to human, that Oni weak, not Oni as whole.” The Oni on the left muttered, unaware of the fate that awaited it.

“He was of the ‘we should be smarter!’ types. Coward.” the Oni on the right scoffed. Akira smirked. 

“Zan!” He yelled, firing the force spell at the base of the leftward demon’s skull. It stumbled into the wall, some of its large teeth splintering into its mouth. The rightward demon turned to face the party only to be met by another burst to the face. Cait Sith jumped up closer, following Akira’s spell with one of his own, causing the demon to stumble. The first Oni struggled to stand, its crimson blood staining the wall and floor. It swung its weapon with its free right arm, only bringing itself further off balance. 

Futaba stood back with Ann, summoning Onmoraki to aid the duo. Onmoraki floated forwards, casting Agi on the stumbling Oni. With a dull groan, it sunk to the floor and ceased moving. The remaining Oni roared in defiance, grabbing both its own glaive and the one dropped by it’s comrade. It threw one at Akira, forcing him to dive to the side as it loudly crashed into the ground. The demon followed by bounding over and taking a swipe for Akira’s exposed body, it’s weapon breaking the red tinted bricks as Akira rolled under it. 

Dust filled the air, while the small chunks of brick and rained on his back. The demon struggled to pull out its weapon, giving Akira time to fire another force spell into the demon’s stomach. The demon released its weapon, giving up trying to take it to pummel the defenseless Akira instead. Taking a deep breath, Akira drew the sword from his hip and plunged it into the demon’s chest. With a grunt, the demon faltered, before eventually falling like its fellow.

“Cut it a little close there, didn’t you?” Cait Sith said, brushing some of the dust off of himself. 

“No kidding.” Futaba muttered, returning Onmoraki to her phone.

“It would be helpful if you were able to use magic like I can, Futaba.” Akira said, ignoring Cait Sith’s question as he stood up and brushed himself off.

“Yeah, it probably would, but sadly for you I don’t exactly know how too.”

“You’ll figure it out. Probably.”

The now empty corridor only led deeper into the world, the atmosphere seeming to grow heavier with each step. The passage began to slope downwards, and while it remained empty of demons Akira could still feel a dull presence in his mind. 

They were getting closer to something powerful..

“You sense it too then, don’t you Akira?” Cait Sith whispered, “That’s the ruler of this place. I’ve felt it before.”

“It’s worse than the demon I had fought to get to this place.”

“I’d imagine so, he’s been giving up his soul to demons in exchange for power.”

“Why would someone do that?” Futaba muttered, “Wouldn’t he just die if demons take his soul?”

“He’d be little more than a husk… The demons he’s getting power from will continue to give him that power until he’s just a slave to them.”

“I’m assuming we don’t stand a chance head on yet?”

“Yeah… we were having an issue with just some of his minions, much less the bastard himself.” the demon sighed, “We should keep moving. If he catches us here we have nowhere to run.” Akira nodded in agreement, and started treading forward again. 

“I don’t remember this hallway being this long…” Ann broke the silence with a mutter, looking around nervously.

“Yeah… This place must be growing larger as he grows more powerful.” Cait Sith said, scratching at his chin.

“Big, but pretty vapid and empty on the inside. It suits him.” Futaba snickered. Ann didn’t respond, instead just biting at her lip. 

“Is it just me, or has everything been slowly getting darker?” Ann asked, causing the group to pause. Looking up and down the hallway, both paths were obscured in pitch blackness. Cait Sith’s ears perked up, and the demon raised its sword.

“There’s something here with us.” 

Akira and Futaba drew their weapons as well, stepping around Ann as Cait Sith backed towards them. The only noise that reached Akira’s ears was everyone around him taking deep breaths as they scanned the hallway.  _ “Focus.” _ he thought to himself, as he felt his own breathing slow. In the darkness of the hallway, he watched the outline of a foot silently appear in the dust. With a snap of his fingers, he fired a force spell in the direction of the footprint, causing the demon that created it to fall against the wall, becoming visible once again. It’s thin body fell to the ground, causing the demon to drop its spear while it’s cone shaped helmet landed on the ground with a resounding thud.

At once, three other identical demons appeared and rushed forwards. Behind him he heard Futaba’s handgun go off, followed by the soft thump of the unfortunate target hitting the ground and writhing. Cait Sith fired off a Zan spell of his own, the bright green energy firing from the tip of his saber as he swung. The fourth demon opted to stay back, raising its hand to cast a spell. A purple circle erupted at Futaba’s feet, and she squealed as Cait Sith dragged her out of the way. Moments after her leg left the circle, a plume of black and purple energy surged out of it, sending a chill down Akira’s spine with the unearthly howl it emitted.

“Be careful! That’s dark magic!” the feline demon exclaimed, helping Futaba back on her feet. “That spell, Mudo, has a chance to kill its victim in an instant.”

“Right, stay on your toes.” Akira said, firing another Zan at the demon still standing. With a guttural roar, it dodged around it and swung it’s spear at Akira, which he blocked in turn. Forcing the spear to the side, he swung at the demon only to be kicked in the chest and knocked off of his feet. Futaba fired the handgun once more, followed by the scream of the demon and the sound of it’s spear dropping to the ground. Akira groaned as he tried to get back on his feet, only to be enveloped in the same purple circle that had appeared under Futaba. 

And then his vision went black.

Everything was cold.

Cold…

Suddenly, his vision returned, and Akira shakily stood and faced the demon that had fired the spell at him. 

“Woah! He’s okay!” Cait Sith exclaimed, quickly walking up to his side.

“Guess that didn’t work out for you, huh?” Akira smirked, hiding his discomfort.

“Tch.” the demon curtly replied, “So you aren’t a normal human.”

“Guess not, and unless you wanna join the rest of your buddies I’d probably just give up.”

“Giving up is for the weak, a strong demon doesn’t surrender like a coward.”

“Then why not join the winning side?” Akira said, taking a step closer to the demon.

“Vain words won’t suffice for negotiation… Give me some of your energy.”

“Are those your terms?”

“No reason to go higher, greed is unnecessary.”

“Very well.” Akira said. He tensed as a cold spot grew in his chest. The injury on the demon’s shoulder healed, and it picked up its spear. 

“You are still standing… impressive. Very well, I am Yomotsu-Ikusa, soldier of Yomi. Your wish is my command.” Ikusa said, immediately digitizing and entering Akira’s phone. 

“Wow, that went really smoothly!” Futaba cheered, giving Akira a pat on the back that almost knocked him over. 

“Sure…” Akira mumbled, “I uh… think I need a minute.” 

“We should get to someplace safer than this before we do though, it could be dangerous if more demons show up while you’re weak.” Cait Sith said. “Besides, with that out of the way we should be getting closer to where those other humans are being held.”

“Which means there’ll only be more guards to deal with…” Akira thought out loud, “The prisoners would probably freak out if they saw demons with us too.”

“We’ll need them to back us up though, especially if we’re going to be facing more demons.” Futaba said, “Besides, it’s not like we’d be hiding anything from them if they’re already in this place.” 

“It’ll help us get them out faster, even if it scares them.” Ann said, “You need the speed more than anything.”

“Mhm.” Cait Sith continued, “There’s a powerful demon guarding the prison. I didn’t get a good look at it, but it’s  _ big,  _ and if that human leader is nearby he’ll pose a large threat too. Akira is lucky to still be alive as is.”

“Don’t forget, some of them might need help to walk and especially to run, so we may need some demons to help with that.” Ann added.

“Oh! Ann, that Bead you found earlier, give it to Akira!” Cait Sith said. Ann blinked, seemingly confused. 

“Alright…” She said, pulling it out from her pocket and handing it to Akira. 

“If i’m right, that’s a healing bead! Crush it!” Cait Sith directed. Akira shrugged, and crushed the small orb in his hand. At once, renewed strength surged through his body, restoring the energy he’d spent fighting. 

“Well I’ll be damned…” Akira said with a grin, “Let’s free some prisoners.”

* * *

“Are you positive this is a good idea?” Yusuke asked Ryuji, who was looking over his shoulder at the screen of the computer. 

“I mean, you said that Akira and that other girl could use it, yeah?”

“Well yes, but I never actually saw them use it, only she had a demon with her.”

“Well if she did it we’ll be fine.” Ryuji shrugged, taking his phone and activating the program. At once, the same basic runthrough that everyone else undertook began, and Ryuji’s first demon sprung into existence. From his emerged a tall, thinly muscled figure wrapped in cloth. A crude mask obscured the demon’s face, and in each hand it held a pristine iron weapon, an axe and a spear in its left and right hands respectively. 

“I am Ogun, Warrior God of Iron… For what purpose have I been summoned?”

“I need to help someone in danger, and you’re my main ticket to help them.

* * *

Akira led the group into the cell block, Pixie hovering at his shoulder. All the splendor of the higher area was gone, replaced with dull gray stone bricks and rusted black iron. The natural red hue was replaced by bloodstains in various stages of drying. 

“You know, for a ‘World of Lust’ this place is pretty… uh…” Futaba whispered, stepping over a puddle of blood. 

“Can’t say I feel the lust.” Akira muttered, eyeing the chains and torture devices lining the different cells. 

“Kamoshida enjoys making people suffer…” Ann said, “And if he’s ruling over this place…” 

A bout of silence followed as the group slowly moved through the empty cell block. All of a sudden, Akira felt another massive chill go up his spine. His breath fogged in front of him, and he heard Futaba shiver behind him. 

“Another ambush?” Akira whispered to Cait Sith, who nodded.

“Definitely. This is our chance to get by them though.” The feline demon said, pointing to a few cells ahead of them. “Those ones are a bit frosted, meaning the demons are most likely in those cells. If we break those doors, it would trap the demons inside for a little while we run past.

“It’ll be an issue to get back out if we don’t deal with them though.” Ann said, “Especially since there looks to be multiple demons in there.”

“That’s true…” Cait Sith pondered, “Although… I have an idea.” 

“We could just kill them all.”

“No, that’s dangerous AND it’d make a lot of noise. If we can get them to have to negotiate with us though, we might be able to get through this peacefully.” 

“You think so?” Akira said, “I guess that’d have to fall on me then.” 

“You’ll do fine… Probably.” Futaba said, crouching down to watch.

“Love the vote of confidence.” he muttered with a smirk, stepping forward with his sword drawn. “I know you’re here, demons.”

“Do you?” a demon croaked, the door to one of the nearby cells being opened by a small bipedal frog. Short, blonde hair and a cloth dress stood out against its bright green skin. It looked over Akira, tilting its head. “Wow! You look awful!!”

“Are there any other demons with you?” Akira asked, ignoring the demon’s jab.

“Nope, not anymore. I’m kinda lost here anyways.”

“Would you rather join me and get out with us?”

“Not with you,” The demon said plainly, “You reek!”

“Well!” Futaba said, stepping up to meet the demon, “Luckily for you, I didn’t try to bathe inside a demon.” 

“Oh! You’re like me!” The demon said, a big smile growing on its face, “Super tiny!”

“Ehehe… I’m just a late bl-”

“Take it from a goddess of fertility, you aren’t getting any... bigger. In any way.”

“Ah.” Futaba said, looking down at the floor. 

“Well if you don’t want to join us, can you at least stay away when we’re returning?” Akira said, “You don’t seem like you’re the type to randomly attack people, but we’re bringing those other humans out and they might get scared by more demons.

“Fine by me.” the demon shrugged.

“I’m not going to complain about a simple agreement.” Akira said, “Thank you.”

“Getting in a fight will only make it take longer to get back home anyways,” the demon said, hopping back into its cell and going silent.

“What’s with the other cells then?” Cait Sith said, bounding ahead and peering inside. On the inside of each one, a different demon was frozen solid, encased in ice. 

“I think we got off easy…” Futaba said, “I’m fine not being frozen to death.”

“That demon wasn’t powerful enough to do this…” Cait Sith said, looking over the encased demons. 

**“This is the work of something stronger.”**

* * *

“Sakamoto, you are not allowed to leave without a  _ very _ good reason.” Makoto said, standing firm despite Ryuji standing over her. “And while I may not have any real power over you Kitagawa, I won’t let you leave either.”

“Look, unlike you I don’t intend to leave Akira out there. If he needs help I’m gonna help him. He saved my ass and he’s sure as shit done more than you have.”

“If you think being rude is going to get you what you want, you’re  _ incredibly  _ mistaken.” Makoto said, glaring holes into Ryuji’s skull. “If he got killed, that’s all the more reason to  _ not  _ let you follow him.”

“I’ll break out if I have to, I can’t just sit here and not do a damn thing to help!” Ryuji yelled, sliding up the sleeve of his coat. 

“Why do you have to make trouble all the time, Sakamoto? Is it just hardwired into you to try and pick a fight with everyone?”

“If it’s pieces of shit like Kamoshida, or even just general scummy people, then absolutely. You’re the one who let Akira out, and now you’re fine to just leave him in potential danger because you’re scared?!” 

“Erm, if I may…” Yusuke said, taking a step between the other two students, “You appear to be drawing a crowd.” 

Makoto turned to see various students peeking from out of the nearby classrooms at the scene. They quickly stumbled back and closed the doors when realizing they’d been noticed. 

“Most of the student body doesn’t know about demons, right?” Ryuji said, pressing the power button on his phone. Realization creeped across Makoto’s face, and she felt her hands ball up into a fist. “I’m going to help him, if you let me or not.” 

Ryuji was giving an ultimatum.

“So, what’s it gonna be, little miss student council president? Are you going to sit on your ass and leave students in danger, or are you going to let us go?”


	9. Prison Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji puts a stop to another student trying to use the Demon Summoning Program, Ann becomes a Demon Summoner, and the trio inside the World of Lust begin a prison break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! I have a very inconsistent schedule... I hope to fix that soon!

Makoto stood silently, staring down the two younger students. She needed a plan, fast. She relaxed her hands, and sighed. “Fine. Follow me.” 

Acting wasn’t exactly her strong suit, but it’d have to work this time. 

“Wait, for real?” Ryuji said, his stance and face instantly relaxing, “I didn’t actually think that’d work…”

“You gave her the choices of giving you a key or breaking any pretense of peace inside this school building, obviously she would have chosen to give in.” Yusuke said, “Although…” he continued, casting an unusually intense glare over Makoto, “She’s much more muscular than you would think.”

“Can you stop talking and get a move on?” Makoto demanded, visibly impatient. “Did you want to go or not?”

“S-sorry!” Ryuji said, jogging over to meet Makoto’s pace. “Uh… thanks.”

“It’s hard to take your threat seriously when you’re this soft immediately after getting what you want.”

“Not like there’s a reason to be more rude if I actually convinced you.” he muttered bashfully. Yusuke silently caught up as they climbed the stairs. 

“I’m curious though, did you actually intend to go through with it or did I just not call your bluff?”

“Kinda? I wasn’t gonna make a scene if that’s what you mean, just break the lock.” Ryuji said, “I’m serious about leaving though.”

“Could you at the very least be s-” Makoto began, only to be interrupted by the sound of a student pleading in a nearby bathroom. 

“H-hey! Keep that thing away from me!” a student stammered, 

“I don’t think I will.” the other said, “I think you still owe me.” Following his statement was a reverberating inhuman groan. Ryuji’s eyes widened, and he grabbed the pipe he still had hanging at his waist and ran into the bathroom. Inside, a visibly younger student was pressed against the wall as another stood behind a demon. The demon itself resembled a slimy decomposing human, with a puddle of sludge replacing its legs and humanoid bones sometimes sliding in and out from its body.

“Hunger… hunger!” the demon groaned, sliding towards its would be victim. 

“Hey asshole.” Ryuji said, summoning Ogun. “What do you think you’re doing?” The older student whipped around to see the pair, demon and summoner, and started to back towards his own demon. 

“You’re that bastard that’s been fucking with Kamoshida, huh?” the other demon summoner said, flashing a smirk despite how much his body shook. “He won’t appreciate it if you beat me!”

“If you haven’t realized, Kamo-shithead isn’t exactly around.” Ryuji said, cracking his knuckles, “And I think I’ll be more than happy to deal with this.”

“Sakamoto, you-” Makoto began, before taking in the scene before her. 

“Shit, her too? Fine! Slime, get rid of Taka!” 

“W-wait!” the younger student, apparently named Taka, said in a panic, scrambling as far as possible from the slime-like demon.

“I don’t think so you son of a bitch!” Ryuji yelled, “Get him, Ogun!” 

At his command, Ryuji’s demon rushed forward, slamming its axe through the Slime and cutting it cleanly in two. With a screech, it burst into green ooze, and slowly disappeared. Ryuji followed by punching the goon in the jaw, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Ogun hung its axe from its hip, using the now free hand to pick up the demon summoner by his shirt. 

“M-Miss Niijima! Y-you wouldn’t let him kill me, would you?” the student pleaded, flailing from the warrior’s hand. 

“Sakamoto, don’t kill him.” Makoto said with a sigh, “Please.”

“I wasn’t, I just needed to get a hold of something.” Ryuji said, pulling up the student’s sleeve. 

“The fuck do you need my phone for?!”

“I don’t need it, I’m just making sure you can’t use it.” Ryuji said, unstrapping it from the student’s arm. “Drop him, Ogun.” 

“As you wish.” The demon said, dropping the student to the ground. 

“H-hey, give that back!” 

“Nah.” Ryuji said, “I’ve got something more fun, batting practice.” Tossing the phone up with one arm, Ryuji used his pipe as a bat and smashed it into the wall, snapping it in two. 

“Y-you…”

“There! No more demons for you, asshole.”

“What do you intend to do to keep him from just stealing somebody else’s?” Yusuke said, looking down at the shocked student with disgust. 

“Well we can-” Makoto began, before Ryuji violently kicked the student in the side of the head, causing them to flop into the wall with a thud, before falling to the ground unconscious.

“There! That’ll do it.”

“What the hell?!” Makoto yelled, “Are you insane?!”

“Hey, he’s the wannabe murderer.” 

“It wasn’t very ethical but it was certainly effective.” Yusuke said, “Well done?”

“Jeez…” Makoto said, walking over to the student in the corner. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…” he muttered, “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ryuji shrugged, “What’s your name anyways?”

“Taka Mukankei, I’m a first year.”

“Alright Taka, are you safe in your class?”

“Y-yeah, he just got someone to get me out and brought me here.” Taka muttered, “This is just a dream right? Those monsters… us being trapped here… this can’t be real, can it?”

“Just… please go back to class. Don’t mention the monsters, we're... trying to keep people calm.” Makoto asked.

“Y-yeah.” he replied, his voice going quiet. Yusuke and Makoto stepped aside to let him pass, watching as he slowly hobbled out. 

“What now then? I don’t plan on sticking around on guard duty.” Ryuji grumbled, returning Ogun to his phone. 

“It doesn’t look like we have a choice though.” Yusuke said, “We cannot allow your peers to attack each other.”

“Besides, I don’t have that demon summoning app like you do. I can’t stop them safely without it.” Makoto said, crossing her arms. Ryuji sighed and scratched at his ear, stepping to the door. 

“I can show you where we found it, if you want.” he said, “What a damn mess though. If there’s more of Kamoshida’s little assholes running around with an inflated ego we’re gonna need to stop them.” Makoto sighed in relief. Even if it really wasn’t how she wanted, she could stop Ryuji and Yusuke from going and potentially throwing their lives away, even if the alternative isn’t much better.

* * *

The small group of cells holding the captured students was up ahead. The group stood next to the rusted door, peering through the bars. Inside seemed empty, save the cells which they couldn’t see inside.

“Hold on, I think this door is where all your things are being held.” Cait Sith whispered, motioning towards a nearby door.

“Well that makes things simple.” Ann sighed, stepping past the barred door and next to the demon. Akira and Futaba quickly followed, the former taking the lead and slowly opening the door. Inside was a small assortment of tools for torture, and on a table a variety of smart phones, keys, wallets, and other small objects. Ann quickly stepped over and grabbed her own things as Futaba followed quickly behind her. 

“Let me see that for a sec, I have an idea.” Futaba said, taking the phone from Ann’s hand before she could even answer.

“What are you doing?” Akira asked, looking over from watching the hallway.

“You’ll see.” she grinned, pulling out her own phone. 

* * *

Kobayakawa knew his place, even if it took some _persuasion_ from Goro. For a task as simple as keeping an eye on a few specific problem students, he was incredibly lax when it came to keeping his word. 

Not anymore, if he knew what was good for him.

Granted, the entire school being dragged into some sort of hellscape had put a damper on leaving in time for lunch. Kobayakawa wouldn’t be of any use to him in a case like this, he needed somebody who actually knew what was going on. 

And the trio walking around, including a student from another school, would certainly be a good place to start.

* * *

“There, I think it worked!” Futaba said, handing Ann back her phone. “That should let you summon demons like me and Akira!” 

“Wait, really?” Ann said, taking the phone, “Wow... “ 

Quickly, she had initialized the program and was ready to summon her first demon. In a burst of energy, a red wolf with a spiked collar and chain burst into the room, a wisp of flame flowing from the sides of its mouth. “I am Garm, the hound of the dead.” 

“Eugh, of course.” Cait Sith sighed, “Well whatever Lady Ann, let me join you as well.”

“Yeah!” Ann said, holding out her hand to the demon. Instantly, Cait Sith digitized and disappeared into her phone, quickly followed by Garm.

“Sweet!” Futaba said with a grin, “We’ve got what we need in here then, let’s get going!” 

“Alright, follow me.” Akira said, looking out both ends of the corridor before leading the group out of the storage room.

“I think we’re getting close now.” Ann said, “We had to pass it on the way out…”

“Honestly I’m more surprised that it isn’t super guarded, considering you had already broken out. Not all that secure for a dungeon…” Futaba followed.

“They must be out searching for her still. Besides, if there’s a strong demon there it’d destroy the need for a bunch of weaker, less competent demons as guards.” Akira said, stopping in front of a frosted iron door. “Speak of the devil…”

“Do you think everyone inside will be alright?” Ann said, “If they froze the door, then…”

“Then we need to hurry up.” Akira nodded, opening the door and stepping into the final cell block. The trio’s breath soon began to fog in the air, the chill setting in through their blood dampened clothes. 

“It’s weird how contained this is… you’d think the entire place would be chilly with these cold spots.” Futaba whispered.

Akira stopped, feeling a sudden chill crawl up his spine. “You two, back up.” he whispered, taking a step forward. The sound of cracking ice sounded from above him, and he rolled forwards as a chunk of ice slammed from the ceiling into the ground, shattering in all directions.

“Lord Kamoshida was right…” a feminine voice laughed from the darkness, “More of you would be coming.”

“Crap, that felt strong!” Futaba said, summoning Onmoraki while Ann summoned Garm and Cait Sith. 

Akira fired a Zan into the darkness, illuminating both the cells further ahead and the demon itself. It appeared very feminine, covering its deeply tan skin with white leather shorts and an open jacket. 

“Wait, th-those are other people!” a human voice yelled from a nearby cell, “Get us the hell out of here!”

“That’s Lilim, Lady Ann.” Cait Sith said, drawing his sword. “We only saw a little bit of it, but i’m sure of that.”

“Only one way to beat ice, I supposed.” Akira said, “Futaba, Ann, bring your demons up behind me, I’m going to assume she’s weak against fire.” 

“An apt judgement, you’re learning quick.” Cait Sith said.

“Bufula!” Lilim yelled from the darkness, another large chunk of ice flying towards Akira. He met it in turn with his own magic, his force spell breaking the front end of the blast and causing the rear to crash into the ground. Akira summoned his own demons Pixie and Yomotsu-Ikusa as he closed the gap. 

“Get that bitch!” one of the imprisoned students yelled, followed by the rattle of a chain. 

“Wait, dodge!” Pixie suddenly yelled, quickly flying upwards as a blast of ice flew into both Akira and Ikusa. Akira stumbled backwards, the shard of ice embedding in his left shoulder. Pixie returned with a Zan, which was deftly blocked by Lilim. Onmoraki flew next to Akira’s head as he recovered, followed shortly by Garm bounding next to Ikusa.

“It’s not fair to have all of you ganging up on me, is it?” Lilim said with a smirk. With a snap of her fingers, two Incubi appeared. 

“That’s not good!” Futaba said, drawing her handgun and running to join the rest of the squad. 

“Mabufu!” Lilim yelled, firing multiple blasts of ice at once, Akira evaded the one that flew towards him, and Ikusa blocked the blasts that fired towards Garm. With a howl, the demon released a fireball in return, it being likewise blocked by one of the Incubi. Pixie quickly finished the weakened demon off, prompting Futaba to shoot the remaining minion. 

“I’ll just have to finish you off before you summon any more, huh?” Akira said, taking a few steps closer to the demon. 

“Of course, of course.” she smirked, “If you can tell me apart from your allies! Pulpina!” 

“No you don’t!” Futaba yelled, running around the other demons and aiming her handgun at Lilim. Suddenly, a yellow light enveloped Futaba, and she stumbled back while covering her face. 

“Oh crap!” Cait Sith yelled, running forward towards Futaba, “If that worked then-” he was cut off with a bang as Futaba shot the feline demon, causing him to fall backwards with a yowl. 

“S-Stay the hell away from me!” Futaba yelled, intense fear and panic in her voice. 

“Keep your eyes on me!” Lilim yelled, “Bufula!”. At the demon’s command, a large blast of ice fired towards Ikusa, blasting the demon into the wall.

“Deal with her first! Futaba will stay out of the way… probably!” Cait Sith yowled, holding the wound to its stomach. 

“Stop talking cat! I-I’ll shoot you again!” Futaba yelled, pushing her back against one of the cells. Garm growled, and ran forwards to start to surround Lilim. Ikusa followed, aided by Pixie firing another force spell at Lilim as she turned to face the surrounding duo. Akira and Onmoraki followed with their own spells, knocking the feminine demon around between the five combatants.

“Time for the finale!” Akira yelled, raising his sword, “Cleave!” the sword glowed blue before cutting into the demon’s skull. With a short scream and a thump against the ground, Lilim was defeated.

“Y-You’re a murderer!” Futaba yelled, “A… huh…?” 

“Oh good! You already came back to your senses!” Cait Sith said, standing over a slowly growing puddle of his own blood.

“Wait, what the hell happened?!” 

“We beat Lilim, Futaba,” Akira shrugged, wincing in pain at the wound on his shoulder. “Though I think some of us are a bit worse for wear.”

“Yeah… Lady Ann, can you return me to your phone? I… don’t think I’ll make it far.”

“Of course…” she said, returning the demon, “Sorry I couldn’t do more, you two.”

“It’s fine, your demon’s helped. You don’t have a weapon to defend yourself yet.”

“Hey! Enough of the damn talking! Get us out of here!” one of the students screamed, “I don’t want to fucking die in here!”

“Great…” Akira groaned, “This is gonna be fun.”

Akira started to break open the cells with magic, while Ann looked through the different cells. Stepping near one of the last ones, her face lit up. 

“Shiho!”


End file.
